Here’s a very simple yet effective technique for narrowing the gap between planning and action.

Everyone makes plans, to-do lists and brainstorms… very few of us tick off as many tasks as we’d like. Personally, I scribbled massive to-do lists in my handy notebook for years without getting much action to happen.

I made a real big breakthrough when I learnt how to increase my instantly increase my action-taking abilities. Here’s how you can do it too…

The secret that bridges the gap between planning and action is simple: Plan to take action

What do I mean by that?

Most people make a really common mistake with their to-do lists: They write huge, significant tasks like “build a website” or “make 5 sales”. They do this because it feels good to “plan” for such big achievements.

The big (important) stuff seldom gets ticked off because huge goals appear overwhelming and become too easy to procrastinate.

The solution is to break your massive, important tasks into bite-sized, achieveable action steps.

I would take:

“Make 5 Sales”

and turn it into:

“Select 100 prospects from database”

“Make 100 calls”

“Set 20 Appointments”

“Make 5 Sales”

The secret, in this example, is the first task. Selecting names from a database is super easy for any sales person. It is an action step that can happen well within their comfort zone, at their desk. No effort required.

By beginning the list with something so simple and easy, it becomes easy and simple to take immediate action.

What easy, simple actions (that get you started on major goals) can you take today? Post your reply in the comment section below…