Act, and God Will Act

DenaNovember 15, 2011

evolutionyou.net | super hero

Act, and God will act. —Joan of Arc

I believe in the power of prayer.  I believe in the power of manifestation. I believe in the power of positive thinking.  Not only do I believe in these things, but I know these things.  I have prayed, and manifested, and practiced positive thinking. Through these things, I have known joy, beauty, and light. They have allowed me to overcome depression; to lose seventy pounds; and to travel the long path from darkness to light.

Yet, even with all that these things can do, there is another tool that is infinitely greater—action.

An Unloaded Gun
Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about goals. It is absolutely critical to sit down and pour your heart into your goals; to be honest with yourself about what you really want. To say: This is where I want to be in six months. This is where I want to be in one year. This is where I want to be in five years. To be incredibly specific: I want to have this amount of money in the bank. I want to be living in this place. I want to be doing this for a living. I want to be surrounded by these people.  And so on…

The first step to getting what you want out of life is this: DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT. But, remember, goal-setting is only the first step.

Specific, measurable goals are wonderful, but goals alone are like an unloaded gun. They’re useless. The thing that gives a goal its power are the actions that follow it.  Once you have set your goals, you must determine what—exactly—you will need to do to get there.  What will you need to give up?  How much blood, sweat, and tears will it take?  How long will you need?  How will your life have to change? 

When you’ve answered these questions, you will be ready to set your goals aflame and to begin making miracles happen. You can draw yourself a map of action items. And from there, you can turn your dreams into reality.

My Book Launches
It has been a dream of mine, for as long as I can remember, to write a book. However, for too long I’ve allowed my anxieties about (not) getting published to get in my way. The crazy thing is that I already have two books ready to be shared with the world! All of the praying, manifesting, and positive thinking is not going to get my books into people’s hands.  It is time for me to do something, to take action. This is why, I’ve decided that next month, I am going to start selling both of my books as e-books.

To show you what I mean by specific, measurable goals and detailed action mapping, here’s an example.

My Goal-setting and Action Mapping Process

Goal:

  • Sell 100 copies of my two books: A Taxonomy of Loss (a collection of poems) and Beat Your Depression and Overcome Your Anxiety (The Best of Evolution You 2009 – 2011).
  • Raise between $600 and $900 through book sales by June 1, 2012.

Action Map:
Week of November 13 – 20: Make final revisions to Beat Your Depression…; create PDF version with illustrations of A Taxonomy of Loss; draft email to professional contacts asking for support of book launch; draft post announcing book launches; create form for pre-registration

Week of November 20 – 27:  Publish post announcing book launches; open pre-registration list;  send email to professional contacts asking for support of book launch (guest posts, reviews, etc.)evolutionyou.net | super hero

Friday November 25: Launch discount pre-sale (for pre-registered list only); create draft of official launch post

December 1:  Publish official launch post; open sales to the public

December 15:  Create a “What I Learned” document about the entire process; create draft of “Big Push” post #2 for New Years Eve re-launch

December 31:  Publish 2nd “Big Push” post, New Years Eve re-launch

Notice how both my goals and my action map are incredibly specific. Goals and action plans are like treasure maps. The more specific and clear you are, the easier it will be to get where you’re going.

Act, and God will act.
The quote featured at the top of this post is one of my favourites. It deeply inspires me. I hope that it inspires you, too. Now it’s your turn. What have you been putting off? Can you believe that this year will be ending in less than two months? I am not a fan of resolutions. Instead, I encourage you to start setting goals right now and then, to start making them happen.  Don’t wait for the New Year hype.  Act, now, and God will act.

What have you been secretly wishing and praying for? What has been getting in your way? Stop idly sitting around with your wishes, hopes, and prayers and take action! Today is the day to push all of the bullshit aside and make it happen.

In love & light,
Dena

Comments (7)

  • Kristinkielar

    November 15, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    I love you & I am excited for the launch. 🙂 Great photo for this post, by the way!

    1. Dena Botbyl

      November 16, 2011 at 11:40 am

      Thank you, Kristin.  I love you, too!  xo

  • Michelle Sutton

    November 16, 2011 at 6:24 pm

    Wow some great goals that are mapped out really well.

    1. Dena Botbyl

      November 17, 2011 at 9:24 am

      Thanks, Michelle.  Now I’ve got to take the map & make it happen!  ;o)

  • Chelsea12

    November 19, 2011 at 7:38 am

    Hi Dena,
    What if your goal doesn’t depend on you alone?  What if your goal is to have a new female best friend with abc qualities by June 2012.  How do you put an action plan in place for that?  I know you will probably say ‘Go out more’ etc but I don’t know.  Some things like writing a book or starting a blog depend on you alone and can be worked towards.  Others not so much.  I would like to hear your thoughts on this.  Thanks.

    1. Brina

      November 19, 2011 at 11:12 am

      Hey Chelsea,
      This is my first time on this site, but I found your comment really relevent. So many of us struggle with how to involve others in our expectations and goals, I know I do. I recently read an article online that really helped me believe the best way is to really believe that you have an awesome gal pal. How would you act if you did? Would you go out to activities you enjoy more? Would you be happier and even more friendly? Would be open to find more inspirational people in your life? What we think about seems to manifest itself in real life. This mindset would help you attract people who find you fun, exciting and inspirational (and hopefully your new bff). Here’s the article that helped me with something similair: http://galadarling.com/article/being-happy (Affirmations section especially). Hope this was at least a little helpful = )

    2. Dena Botbyl

      November 22, 2011 at 10:03 am

      This is absolutely a workable goal!!

      For example:

      ***Goal: To attend at least 5 social outings within the next 5 months.

      ***Action plan:   A.)  Sign up for meetup.com — attend 2 meetup events this month
                              B.)  Sign up to volunteer at my local animal shelter – ask one of the other volunteers to coffee within 90 days
                              C.)  Attend a concert, poetry reading, or open MIC night at a local venue, strike up a conversation with at least two strangers
                              D.)  Get involved on campus.  (If you are a student) Join a club.  (If you are an alumni) Join the alumni association.
                              E.)  Join a Rotary or Church group.

      The ideas are limitless!  :o)

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