Unlocking Your Potential Using the Results Sequence

Do you feel like you’re not living into your potential? Are you lacking the results that you think you should be seeing? Why do some people seem to be able to achieve their goals while others struggle? One potential reason lies in the results sequence: Insight, Motivation, Action, Consistency, & Results. Let’s dive into these areas in a little more detail and discuss how they relate.

The Sequence

The results sequence is a repeatable sequence that can lead to results. You will, of course, need to define your vision, goals, objectives, strategies, and actions that you’ll take to align your actions with the results that you’re looking for. The actions that you take have to be in alignment with your objectives. The results sequence helps us to understand what we need to do to meet those objectives.

This progression, from gaining insight, to having motivation to act, to taking action, maintaining consistency, and seeing results is repeatable, and act work in your life, whether you intend for it to be or not. James Clear states, “Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits.” James Clear further states that “Habits are the small decisions you make and actions you perform every day.” As we explore the results chain, we will see how this chain leads to the results that we’re looking for.

Insight

It all starts with insight. Insight connects us from where we are to where we want to be. When you gain insight, you have a clear understanding of where you currently are in your journey. It involves gaining an understanding of yourself, your circumstances, and the possibilities ahead of you. Insight can be gained through reflection, journaling, research, and drawing from your own experiences. When you’ve gained insight, you’ve gained clarity and perspective. This insight becomes the foundation for meaningful change in your life.

Positive Psychology lists some great activities and tools to help find your strengths. Some common exercises include:

• Keeping a journal – Write down your thoughts. Explore thoughts a little more deeply.
• Mindfulness – Have a mindfulness practice such as meditation.
• The Five Whys – Drill down to why you want to accomplish a goal by asking yourself “why?” Five times. This can often lead to your core need to accomplish something.
• Volunteer – Oftentimes, volunteering is a great way to gain insight about yourself.
• Try something new – Trying something that you’ve never done can often lead to great personal insight.
• Assessing your strengths – There are many strengths-finding activities available online such as the Clifton Strengths Finder. Understanding your strengths and weaknesses can often help give you insight.

Gaining insight will be the foundation to gaining the motivation to want to change and grow.

Motivation

Insight alone is not enough to bring about your transformation. Motivation is what ignites those insights and spurs you into action. Motivation is the initial driving force behind action. It stems from the insights that we gain, both about ourself and where we want to go. Motivation is important, but it is also waining. Motivation won’t always be there. When it is, recognize it and utilize it, but also know that there are days when you won’t feel motivated. That doesn’t mean that the insight that you gained isn’t worthy, or your goals aren’t great. It just means that some days are harder than others.

Don’t allow a lack of motivation to stop you from accomplishing your objectives and working towards your goals. To maintain motivation, you can regularly review your goals and objectives. Regularly reviewing your goals and objectives helps to keep them at the top of your mind. We often get distracted or even sad. Keep those goals and objectives at the front of your mind. When you journal everyday, remind yourself of what you’re doing.

Review your insights. You initial insights are what spurred your motivation in the first place. Review those thoughts, even revisit those exercises. Remembering your ultimate “why” is a great way to maintain or create the motivation you need to take action.

Think about the pain of not taking action. When you consider the pain of not taking action, you can often create enough energy or enthusiasm to take action. What are some of the pains that you would experience by not taking action? Would you be embarrassed? Would you have to report a lack of action to an accountability partner?

Motivation is a strong spring to action.

Action

So you have personal insights, and you feel motivated to do something. That insight and motivation must be followed by action. Action is how we manifest our intentions and bring our motivation to life. Action often requires courage, commitment, and a willingness to step outside of your comfort zone. Results are rarely, if ever, accomplished without action.

Action and motivation are often cyclical. Once you’ve gained insight, you’ll become motivated to act, so you take action. There will be days though that taking action seems beyond your ability. There will be days that motivation will energize you to take action, and days where motivation is lacking. That’s okay, and it’s normal.

Not every action you take has to be perfect. Sometimes, small action is what you need in order to maintain even a little bit of momentum. Even the smallest actions can lead to significant results. Your actions don’t need to be monumental. Sometimes, we’re taking action because of an upcoming deadline, or our of fear, so we act all at once and expend all of our energy. This can leave us feeling depleted and burnt out.

Remember, even the smallest actions, if taken consistently, can lead to significant results.

Consistency

Consistency seems to be the greatest secret to achieving results. We often gain insight, feel motivated, take action, and expect results. When we don’t get those results, we become frustrated.

Results typically require consistency. In order to achieve the results that you’re looking for, you need to take consistent action. Remember that James Clear stated that your current results are a result of your habits. Your habits are those things that you repeat over and over – those things that you’re consistent with. Here’s an activity to help illustrate…

Think of your life now, and the results that you have, positive, negative, and neutral. Think about the consistent actions and habits that got you to where you are now. Consider your current circumstances as results of your habits and consistent actions. Considering your results and the consistent actions that have created those results can be enlightening.

We can’t shortcut the results that we’re looking for without committing and acting with consistency. Consistency is showing up, day after day despite obstacles or distractions. It’s understanding that consistent action won’t always be easy, but you have to commit to taking it. Consistency is what reinforces healthy habits and builds momentum.

Some ways to create consistency in your actions would be:

• Establish routines
• Set reminders
• Track your progress
• Find an accountability partner
• Hire a coach

What are some other ways that you can think of that would help you to build consistency? You can stay on course and navigate the inevitable challenges that will come with consistently taking action in your life.

Sometimes, the only way that you’ll be able to take consistent action is by taking smaller action from time to time. That’s okay and expected. Oftentimes taking smaller action is what reminds us that we’re willing to take action, no matter how small, due to current circumstances.

Consistency is the secret ingredient to turning action into results.

Consistency & Adaptation

Sometimes, you will have to adapt. In order to achieve your desired results, you’ll need to be adaptable and flexible. The ability to adjust your approach, strategies, or even goals and objectives when necessary is crucial. Adaptation requires you to stay open-minded. You’ll learn from your failures and setbacks, and be able to make course corrections as your progress and transform.

The landscape that we all live in is ever-changing, and it requires adaptation. Being able to adapt when you need to is key to overcoming obstacles on your way to your success.

Results

This sequence of insight, motivation, action, and consistency ultimately ends in results. The results that you achieve will vary depending in your initial insights and motivations and how you’ve adapted. Your intended results are often objectives that you’ve set for yourself.

You may also have unintended results based on your action and consistency, or lack of action and consistency. There is a current that is pushing us through life, and we must navigate the river that we’re on to arrive where we want. We might get sucked into whirlpools along the side, or be pushed into different areas of the river without much current at all. If we don’t actively work to arrive at our desired destination, the current will still take us to some destination – it may not be the destination that we imagined or wanted for ourselves.

There are always results. There is always action (or lack of action) that has been consistency taken that leads to those results. Taking some time to examine your current results, and the results that you want, and the actions that lead to those results can often be a powerful insight, creating new motivations, spurring you to new actions taken consistently, leading to new and greater results.

Achievement and Celebration!

When you achieve the results that you’re setting out for, don’t forget to celebrate! Celebration can often be a great motivator. Remember that your results are objectives set along the way to living into your goals. When you achieve the results you’re looking for, take time to celebrate. Also remember that this is one stop along the journey of living into your goals. You should certainly take time to celebrate achievement. Also remember to take some time to look further down the road and set your next objective.

Achieving results shouldn’t lead you to feeling empty after celebration. Rather, this achievement should serve as your pad to spring from on your way to living your purpose through living into your goals.

A Powerful Framework

The sequence of insight, motivation, action, consistency, and results is a powerful framework that can help you to unlock your potential. It can pave the way to personal growth and help you to live into your goals. By gaining understanding and insight, fueling your desires, taking consistent action, and celebrating your achievements and asking yourself “What’s next?”, you can live your purpose and create a life that you live with intent.

You’ve got this.

Post header photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash