How Do You Write Your Success Story?

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Identity. Identity. What’s my identity?

If you tuned in to my blog post, entitled Identity Placement in Writing Therapy, then you know I gave you free rein to identify that “where you want to be” embodiment of yourself.

Basically, I wanted you to start articulating (in writing) what would make you feel comfortably at home in the skin you’re in.

So, how do you write your own success story?

Well, YOU START CONNECTING THE DOTS.

You start filling in the blanks on the steps that will take you from where you are now in your personal makeup to where you’ve identified you’ll feel at your best in being.

THAT’s how you write your success story. So, we write. We write our own personal movement to our successful state of being.

And how do we know what success looks like and/or how to function in it?

To tell you the truth, maybe we don’t have an exact picture of what success looks like for us, but I’m quite certain we know what it doesn’t look like. So, let’s start there.

We know when we’re not feeling comfortably at home in the skin we’re in and when there’s some better way to be within.

And, that’s the starting line for us. Let’s identify what would move us in the opposite direction from the not-feeling-so-good way in which we’re functioning to feeling good and being good.

Boy, I sure hope I’m making these words come alive to you in what you’re reading right now. Because these words sure feel alive to me. I mean I truly can FEEL what I’m saying because I’m going through it myself.

I know that the Jana I am has work to do on an inward level. And what I must do to move myself in a direction where I’m acquiring those ways of being that are consistent with my desirable state of living LEAD to my success story.

What we’re striving for is our RIGHTFUL PLACEMENT.

That place that feels like home. It’s a good place to be — a place where we’ll feel the best, do the best, and influence other’s lives in the best possible way(s).

Let’s use me for an example here, since I don’t know what you’ve identified you need to work on through your own self-inventorying. And even if I did know your business, I wouldn’t put it on blast on this blog. That’s for sure. Therefore, I choose to blast my own business.

So, let’s look at Jana’s propensity to procrastinate in some areas of her life. Shall we?

Okay, I’ve identified that I have a way of being (procrastinating) that doesn’t suit me very well. (I have other uncomfortable ways of being I’ve assumed throughout my lifetime, but we’ll just stick with this one for now. Don’t want to tell on myself too much.)

Now, I know the tendency to procrastinate is not a good way to be, because all it does is simply delay the inevitable. And then, it causes me to be reactive in my behaviors instead of proactive. And, I REALLY want to be more of an initiator instead of a person trying to catch up from behind. You know?

In essence, what I’m choosing to put off by procrastinating still needs to get done, so what benefit is procrastination actually bringing to me — at all? Why not just do the things (even those really undesirable tasks) and take out the middleman, procrastination, who ain’t doin’ a thang for me?

I mean . . . wouldn’t I feel better by just getting the task done and over with . . . accomplished and off my shoulders?

I’ll emphatically answer with — YES!!

So, here are the steps I’ve identified to get me moving toward that non-procrastination stance I’d like to put on and the straight-up procrastinator stance I’d like to take off:

• Step 1: write out task to-do lists.
• Step 2: schedule out the tasks on my calendar/planner for when they are to be completed.
• Step 3: Put my schedule/calendar with task completion dates in a place where I can be easily reminded of them.
• Step 4: Set reminders in my schedule of where I should be at different phases toward task completion to stay on track for the completion date.
• Step 5: Set parameters for what penalties will be incurred (on my part) if I procrastinate in the process instead of staying on track or completing the task altogether. (I must make the negative consequences unfavorable enough that it would make it hard for me to renege on my commitment to see the task through.)
• Step 6: Reward myself for completing the tasks in a timely manner. (Rewards don’t have to be huge in monetary terms; they just need to be meaningful enough to incentivize me to stay on track toward task completion.)
• Step 7: Keep this as an ongoing process for all tasks that tend to give me trouble when it comes to implementation.

That’s just a simplified list of steps that I can take to be less of a procrastinator and reactive person and more of a go-getter, proactive person, when it comes to doing things that are hard or not as enjoyable for me to do.

But that’s just one area of my personal makeup that I need to outline a step-by-step process for improvement. I definitely have some more. And, I’ll just go through this same exercise, until I have action plans for how I’m going to get closer to that overall “where I want to be” embodiment of myself.

This is your assignment, as well. Promise . . . I’ll give you ample time to work on it, too.

So, here’s the thing. I want you to take all those areas that you’ve identified need some improvement when it comes to your personal makeup (from where you are now in your identity journey to where you want to be in that particular area of your life) — and I want you to reflect on the matter (research if you have to) and write out the steps that will fill in the blanks/fill in the gaps/connect the dots.

And let me clarify something. I’m specifically dealing with the personal parts of you that make up YOU. The REAL YOU! That’s the focus here.

What are the steps to get you moving toward living your best life?

Write them down; and when you do, you’ve just added the action sequences to your own success story.