The #1 Thing That Holds People Back From Success

I hope you had a great week!

Mine was really nice. I was able to do a lot of deep work for a project at ITN and that felt amazing.

I also launched 7-Figure SELF Made Mindset for all you SELF Makers in the SELF Made Membership.

(We could play a drinking game with the number of times I said “SELF” in that sentence)

And next week in our SELF Made Session I’ll be talking about Your Wealthy Identity. It’s SO juicy!

Also, for those of you who have asked, The SELF Made Membership is currently closed but we’ll open it up in the next few weeks and I’ll keep you posted!

What else…

Zak and I had a fun date night a few days ago.

We went to this little Italian place and sat outside under the sky, with a heat lamp and a glass of wine and it was so nice to just melt into the present moment with him.

It’s funny because I originally wanted to cancel it. I had that old story of, “I don’t have time” playing in the background.

My brain kept asking, “How?”… like…

… “HOW are you going to have time to pack up those gifts you need to send if you go to dinner?”

And what I realized…

The word isn’t “HOW”, it’s “NOW”.

Walk with me…

So often as I coach people, I see them planning. Waiting. Thinking things through.

And then they never do the thing.

They think… “HOW will I do THIS?” and “HOW will I do THAT?”

But what if… you just repeated the mantra, “Now not How” and you just did the damn thing?

For me, I rewrote the story from…

… “HOW are you going to have time to pack up those gifts you need to send if you go to dinner?”

To…

… “NOW you are going to have time to pack up those gifts you need to send if you go to dinner.”

See what I did? Changed How to Now and moved the “you” right next to Now.

In other words, I made what mattered – “you” – the priority and everything else in that story just feel right into place.

And you know what I did after I rewrote the story? 

I packed up the gifts and I went to dinner!

No trauma, no drama, no second-guessing mySELF.

I just did the damn thing.

You can too.

I’m going to show you how to stop procrastinating on your dreams and take action right now with this simple shift.

Ready? Let’s do this – now!

PS Another reason to do things NOW? You never know how much time you have left.

Last week, I got word that Roy Nelson, a dear friend for many years, had passed away. We attended his service yesterday. He was a wonderful man and I learned a lot from him.

I think you can too which is why I wanted to share the interview I did with him years ago on my show, What You’re REALLY Hungry for. It was SO powerful.

It’s hard to believe this was 7 years ago. The topic is Addiction but don’t let that fool you… we ALL have addictions. Watch the video and you’ll see what I mean.

This is one of my favorite conversations ever. I loved Roy. I think you will too.

Using “NOW not HOW” To Overcome Procrastination

Let’s talk about procrastination.

I knowwww you probably don’t want to talk about it NOW… you probably wanna do it later when your mind is in a good place and you can focus.

(Did you actually have that thought, tho? )

Ok… FOCUS, Cynthia.

So here’s the thing… procrastination is just fear.

Fear of failure and fear of success.

Not knowing HOW is a lie we tell ourselves to keep from having to take action.

I mean… If we don’t know HOW to do it, then we can’t take action, right?

And I guess if we can’t take action, we can’t fail.

Do you see what’s happening here?

That’s why NOW not HOW is so important.

How is a form of procrastination. It’s an easy way to stay stuck.

Which is why it’s so important to ditch the HOW and focus on the NOW

Because the truth is…

You do not have to have everything figured out before you take action. On ANYTHING…

• Launching the website
• Asking for the sale
• Posting that post on social
• Launching your product
• Sending that email
• Asking to be on that podcast
• On and on and on

You can just take the next right action that you DO know HOW to do and see where it takes you!

You’ll get information and feedback and be able to take the NEXT step. See how that works?

So, ask yourSELF… what is one thing you’re putting off doing until you know HOW and how can you say NOW instead?

Rewrite that story like I did above… change the HOW to NOW and make YOU a priority.

Here’s an example:

How do I build a website?  BECOMES Now I build a website.

And then you take action!

Will you build the most amazing website ever? Likely, no.

Will you even build an entire website right then? Probably still no.

BUT will you take the FIRST STEP to build a website and learn from it so you know what to do next? YES! Yes you will!

And that action is progress. Which is more than you had before.

So, again, what is one thing you can say NOW to instead of HOW to?

“NOW not HOW” Helps With My Anxiety

I deal with anxiety a lot. I have since birth.

I’ve tried a LOT of SELF Care approaches.

AND… tbh… I’ve dealt with it in a lot of unhealthy ways too.

But what I’ve found that works better than anything else… is NOW not HOW.

You see, what I’ve found is that the vast majority of my anxiety comes from not taking action. I know!

It comes from thinking about what to do and how to do it and even what things might be like AFTER I do it.

So when I finally take action, the anxiety disappears.

Give it a shot.

What is something you’re feeling anxious about? Nervous? Worried?

Make a list if you need to, there’s no judging.

And then what action can you take right NOW on one thing causing you anxiety?

You don’t have to do it “perfectly”. You just have to take action. Some action. Any action.

Get your identity in check and choose to be the person who takes imperfect action right now.

Let me know you how feel after.

Why Using “NOW not HOW” Is Key To Being Successful

When it comes to success, people have a hard time taking action.

I’ve been there too.

Afraid to push the button, make the offer, ask for help.

And oftentimes my reason was… I need to figure out how. I don’t know HOW!

And so I would research, dig, and write.

I would edit, take a class, buy a program.

But I still wasn’t taking action.

I was just getting READY to take action. I had to figure out HOW to take the perfect action first…. And then I would do it.

Do you struggle with this too?

Maybe you are thinking…

… How will I know what to post and promote my coaching?

… How will I price my new product?

On and on and on.

But what if… you just repeated the mantra, “Now not How” and you just did the damn thing?

What if you rewrote those stories so that…

“How will I know what to post and promote my coaching?” BECOMES “Now I will know what to post and promote my coaching.”

”How will I price my new product?” BECOMES ”Now I will price my new product.”

And then you do the damn thing.

The vibe here is NOW not HOW.

Listen… Action takers are money makers. Plain and simple.

So… think about some of the ways your stories of needing to know HOW are holding you back. Then rewrite them. Then take action.