Why do some people seem to get more done in two weeks than other people get done in six months? These highly productive people are taking inspired action. If you asked them to stop acting and sit and do nothing, it would probably be painful for them. If you feel like you could be taking more action, your answer is to step into inspired action. It is not about just doing a lot to be busy, it is about finding that why, that inner joy in the work, and your inspiration.

When you step into inspired action, you also end up inspiring others by your example.

Be the person who steps into inspired action and while you are doing this, create the space for both success and failure. The main block to inspired action is often fear.

Facing fear head-on paves the way for inspired action.

If you let it, fear can be paralyzing. The goal isn’t to eradicate fear completely because that is not possible, but the goal is to recognize it when it is operating and minimize the impact. Anytime you go for something big and important, fear is a natural response. If you find it difficult to take the action steps you know you want to do, you may have some fears that are getting in the way.

Here are some common fears:

• Fear of rejection.
• Fear of change.
• Fear of failure.
• Fear of success.
• Fear of judgment.
• Fear of not being good enough.

If you encounter resistance with your inspired action steps, look inward to see if any of these fears are present. Challenge and lift the fear through emotional freedom technique. You can try this podcast where I use EFT (tapping technique) How to Stop Self Sabotage 

You can also lift fear by allowing it to come forward.

Think about it for a few minutes. Then let it go and shift your focus to something else. Exercise also helps you move through fear and think more clearly. A gratitude list helps you stay focused on what is working and going well.

Don’t stuff the fear, recognize it, engage it, move through it and let it go. The more you practice this, the quicker you will be able to move through fear. Instead of days of procrastination due to fear, you will move through the fear in minutes.

Create an empowering life and biz culture.

Some of you may have worked or are still working for a company with a company culture based on fear. It is hard to get people to act if they are afraid to make any mistakes.

Create room for both success and failure and think about how you react when there is a failure. Do you ask,   “Can I get this to work?”  Or do you have a sky is falling kind of mentality? Do you often think or say-“oh this is terrible” and list all the reasons why it is so awful that this mistake or failure happened?

I am not saying failure is great, but if you want to fully tap creativity and inspired action you want to make sure that you know and that your people know that it is ok to make a mistake here and there.

Unlock Motivation

Inspired action is closely tied to intrinsic motivation (motivation that comes from within). I would say it is not the carrot, it is not the stick.  It is not motivation for reward and it is not motivation from evading punishment, it is motivation that comes from within.

You know you have this when you are psyched up to do something. When you are working on a project and you feel like you could work indefinitely without looking up. For example, often I am writing and I get lost for 6 hours or more and I feel like only 20 minutes have passed by because I am so engrossed and absorbed.  I become so inspired by what I am doing. This is a different scenario than when you have a deadline that you are dreading or something you definitely do not like to do. Time creeps by and it becomes difficult to stay focused.

Yes, there are going to be things that are not your favorite thing to do, so find some way to make it fun. Find a way to make it matter and yet, keep it light.

Take action on the simplest things, too.

If you own property take care of it.  A burned-out light bulb sends a message of lack and not replacing a light bulb sends a message that you cannot care for what you already own. This puts an entirely different perspective on getting those light bulbs changed. Think of a building maintenance person in charge of changing those light bulbs and when he or she looks at the job as just changing light bulbs it is completely different when you see it as- “my job impacts the overall message of this company, my job is part of how people feel when they walk in the door and how safe they feel and how cared for they feel.” So you see how motivation will be more intrinsic when it is based on pride and the ability to make a difference.

Maybe you notice that people nagging or judging you creates more resistance, but when you discover why it’s important to you, you get inspired. For example, a spouse nagging about food habits doesn’t have the same motivation as discovering that it feels good to eat better. Or that a person wants to live longer and live a higher quality of life.

Being motivated by external rewards and punishment does not compare to the joy of finding intrinsic motivation.

You not only want to find intrinsic motivation for yourself but you want to help other people tap into it as well.

You may have experienced a job, where there might be a big reward, a bonus that the company offers, and no one’ s sales increased as a result of it. Everybody pretty much stayed the same. The reward was not (in people’s eyes), motivating.  So you can throw money at a situation to try to make it better and have it not work at all.

Create a cohesive message.

How can you cultivate intrinsic motivation for your team? You need a cohesive message and purpose that others can rally behind. People need to understand why they are doing something.  Even in the family, people need to understand why. The thought might be:  Okay I am helping straighten up the house to get ready for this party and this party is important because (whatever the reason is). People pitch in because they understand why.

I remember one time my husband called me saying (we had a car for sale), “someone is on the way to make an offer on the car, I won’t make it there I am still at work, they want to look at the car”.

It was a car that I happened to be driving regularly, and I said to my kids, “someone is going to be here in 20 minutes and dad always says clean sells” and so we just jumped into the car, started cleaning. It was not terribly dirty but we made it sparkle and the person bought it on the spot.  The help I received from my kids came from their understanding of why we were doing it. I did not even have to ask them. I just described the situation and they headed for the vacuum.  We headed for the car and they knew what to do because they understood why they were doing it.

We can take this example of a cohesive message to an organizational level. In my company when I am working with virtual assistants or working with other people who are working on my team, they understand how their piece fits in the big picture of my business.  There is dynamic action.

When a person knows that his or her piece makes the difference, and understands what difference it makes, he or she is motivated to act. A cohesive message creates more stepping into inspired action.

Inspired action is revealed through effective planning.

I know you have thoughts about what you want to accomplish, but do those thoughts make it on paper or in a spreadsheet? When you devote time to creating a plan for not just your biz or professional life, but also your personal life, you achieve more.

Does planning seem overwhelming? It doesn’t have to be. Even a simple, one-page plan is effective.  As you think about your plan, notice themes that pop out.

Maybe this is a year of travel for you, a year of spiritual growth, a year of rapid financial recovery and growth, a year of learning, etc… Once you get a clear idea of what you want to do, you can then break it down into manageable pieces. Remember this is your plan, so you have the power to change it. There is no plan police out there to write you a ticket for creating an incorrect plan.  So what are you waiting for? Get that plan in place…

Wondering what the future holds? Your effort at planning is part of inventing it.  So, what in the world do you want to do? Start with a brainstorming list… write down at least 50 to 100 things that you want to do. Write freestyle and free flow, do not judge what you write down as it comes to your mind. Include things from all parts of your life.  Make it fun, turn on uplifting music, draw pictures, cut out pictures, you could even use big paper and makers. If you have kids, have them do it, too.  This is a great beginning to creating a plan. You could also create a goal poster

Use These Action Plan Steps

• Determine your goals
• Gather your information: research, intuition, and experience.
• Create steps and identify milestones with a 12-month calendar, know your monthly and weekly focus for the entire year. Write out goals for the next three years.
• List needed resources
• Act on steps.
• Stay accountable.
• Celebrate milestones.
• Evaluation Plan (weekly? 30 days? 90 days? Etc) Decide what constitutes success…Decide what’s next…Make adjustments.

If you are wondering, How to grow my online business? or How to grow my life coaching business? or How to grow my health coaching business? or if you are wanting to grow your professional, consulting, or creative business, book a Get Your Results Session with me- it’s free.

Yes, plans are great, we have to have plans but if you have all the plans in the world and no action behind them, nothing happens. You probably know someone who is all plans and no action. You have to do, you have to act.

This is the Law of Sowing and Reaping. If you do nothing. You get nothing.

Your Intuition is Your SuperPower

Being inspired, being led from spirit, being led from your intuition (your inner self) is your superpower.

Developing your intuition for better decision making is a transforming way to approach life. We sometimes find that we are on the fence or maybe even completely confused regarding the next step, but our inner compass always knows the way,  the right next step.  When I say “intuition” I mean divine guidance and/or guidance from your higher or inner self.

One of my favorite techniques for developing intuition is asking a question before I fall asleep. I might say something like, “I would like clarity on my next step for my business, and when I wake up, I want to know my next move. Above all, I want to feel the rightness of it.”  Then, while I am sleeping my subconscious and my inner, higher-self are working on the idea.  Many times, I wake up with certainty about what to do next.

Another method to help you develop your intuition is to get quiet and set the intention, “I am looking for the answer to… (insert topic) and when an answer comes to me, I will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is my intuition that is guiding me.”

I am not dismissing logic or research, as these are important steps, but intuition allows us to make leaps instead of maybe mere baby steps forward. I use a combination of processes in decision making but have found intuition to be the most reliable.

When you are making decisions about taking inspired action, intuition is a valuable asset.

You can use EFT (emotional freedom technique to unlock your intuition as well).

If you are having a hard time with clarity around your decision making or planning, do a heart check. Your heart knows what it wants. Get quiet, put your hand over your heart… ask, “What is my heart telling me?”

You may find the answer pops up immediately or you may find that you just get an overall, peaceful feeling… knowing the answer is on its way to revealing itself. You might also feel nothing, yet, and that is okay.

It takes practice to settle yourself down in order to be able to listen to your heart. However, the reward is great. You find yourself living a life of purpose and passion instead of a life of shoulds and have tos.

See clearly with your heart, today.

Respecting Values

Respecting other people’s inner value systems as well as your own enables inspired action. When your action steps align with your values you are more inspired to actually do them. And when your action plan aligns with the values of your team and your biz, you create a synergistic environment yielding more productivity and creativity.

Create a High Trust Environment

Ultimately you want to create a high trust environment. And the best way to do this is that you do what you say you will do and be consistent. When you keep your word and you are consistent it sends a powerful message to people around you. Just about everyone has an example of working in a low trust environment at some point, and hopefully, you have had some examples of working in a high trust environment. High trust environments are highly productive. In fact, much business today is still conducted on the basis of a handshake.

A high trust environment allows for more inspired action.

When you combine your own role model example of you taking inspired action and then add in an empowering environment, intrinsic motivation, effective planning, and high trust, you will see people around you taking their own inspired action steps.

If you liked this article, you will love my INSPIRE course

Sheri Kaye Hoff

Coach, Trainer, and Author, Sheri Kaye Hoff, is a Business Coach known for inspiring massive action and a catalyst for personal and business growth, joy, and profits in a way that is fun, relaxing, and fulfilling, Sheri inspires people to do the work they love and make more money. Sheri offers business and mindset coaching for business owners and professionals ( including life coaches, health coaches, creatives, personal coaches, spiritual entrepreneurs, consultants, and more) to relax into success. She uses both spiritual and practical techniques to obliterate blocks and create dramatic change. She is a business, leadership, happiness, and mindset expert. She has overcome nearly dying, and the loss of her brother at an early age. She has made it her life mission to discover the keys to happiness and success and then share them with her clients and community. Learn More About Sheri