“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”

Thus wrote Aristotle and whether you agree with his ancient Greek wisdom or not, honest self-reflection and review is a powerful and underused tool for success and change.

Yes it’s hard, yes it’s scary, yes it might seem like a bit of pain – but evaluating your progress might just be the difference between learning from your experience and repeating your mistakes.

How do you know what you’re doing is effective unless you measure and evaluate it.

In episode 52 of the Changeability Podcast we explore the importance of evaluation. How we do it and what we’re evaluating.

In episode 52 you find out:

• What years of giving out large sums of project money taught us about evaluation
• Why you are your own project
• The link between progress and measurement
• Why you need to ask what you’re measuring
• Why it’s time to leave the HR objectives game behind in real life
• Don’t fool yourself about what counts as success
• The bottom line if you want to lose weight
• How to measure your money
• You need the action plan (see 'Action planning for success')
• The link between evaluation and value
• Are you formal or informal
• If you’d benefit from developing the schedule habit
• Whether to diarise or not to diarise – and who doesn’t like that word
• Dealing with setbacks and Julian’s bad day
• It’s all about perception and learning
• 2 everyday examples of feedback not failure
• 6 key questions to ask yourself

Links and resources mentioned in episode 52

• Leave us a review on iTunes
• Avoiding the 'F' word - the fear of failure episode
• Accountability episode - Be accountable
• Taking action episodes - Action planning for success and time for action
• Changeability starter kit - To help kick-start changes in your life.

Like the podcast? nominate it for an award

Show us some love by nominating the Changeability Podcast for a UK Podcaster’s Awards.  It’s super simple to do and we will think you are truly wonderful. You can vote for us once a day every day until the end of July – so that’s only a few days left to go.

Go to this link and click ‘Nominate this podcast now’

Vote via email, or Facebook or Google

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” ~ Socrates

Nobody likes the ‘f’ word. And we’re not talking about that old Anglo-Saxon epletive some people call swearing. No, this is much worse!

This is something that absolutely nobody likes or wants to be familiar with. It’s FAILURE.

No-one wants to fail. In fact we’re programmed to avoid it where possible – or at lest to avoid what getting out of our comfort zone might do to us.

The Fear of Failure

The fear of failure runs deep in all of us.

It lurks buried in our psyche, only to raise it’s head when we want to change something in our lives or business or try something new.

It seems virtually impossible to become an adult and escape picking up a fear of failure along the way.

The fear of failure scuppers invention and enterprise; stops us fulfilling our potential and living our best life – if we let it.

We try to avoid it where we can, either by staying safe, living small within our comfortable familiar world, or by procrastinating over any action that might incur failure.

But if we want to live an examined life – if we want to reflect on our progress towards the life or business we want – then open honest reflection with ourselves is the way to go.

Many resist such honesty – either from within or from others.  We don’t seek out the critique that might help us change or be more successful.

We carry on doing the same things we always do, and you know where that leads – nowhere.

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.” Narcotics Anonymous

We like the familiar – because our subconscious wants to keep us safe and that means sticking to what we know – even when it’s not serving us well.

And facing up to things not working might make us feel like failures and that we’ve wasted the time and effort we’ve already put into it that thing. It might be years - with a job or business, or a relationships.

We shy away from failure because of what the word means to us – the negative connotations.

You are like a scientist observing an experiment of honest reflection without a failure label. 

If we change the way we look at failure to see it as feedback, we don’t need to be afraid of it.  In fact we can totally change our whole approach to life and how we do things.

Imagine if you weren’t afraid of failing – what would you do? 

The Changeability Podcast Episode 51

In episode 51 of The Changeability Podcast we chat about all this and more including:

• What gets in the way of reflection
• Where our fear of failure comes from
• Why it’s good and bad
• What makes us procrastinate
• When we’ve been afraid of failing
• Avoiding the ‘F’ word
• How to reframe (even though Julian hates that word)
• What a difference a word makes

 Links mentioned in episode 51

• Episode 50 - Be accountable
• Episode 13 - Discover your limiting thoughts and beliefs
• Episode 14 - What self-beliefs hold you back
• Episode 15 - Letting go of limiting thoughts and beliefs

Vote for us

If you like the Changeability Podcast please nominate us for a UK Podcasters’ Award at  http://ukpodcasters.com/directory/podcast/changeability-podcast-manage-your-mind-change-your-life

Vote via email, Facebook or Google

If by email don’t forget to confirm the email that comes to you to verify you’re a real person.

If we’re worth it you can even nominate us once a day every day for the rest of July – which would be fantastic.

Thank you

We’ve reached episode 50 and Step 9 of The Changeability Podcast – hurray!

Not entirely sure why, but 50 seems a significant number – a bit of a milestone. And we’re marking this 50th episode with the launch of the Changeability Starter Kit.

Sign up now for your free short series of videos to get you started on your first Changeability step.

Accountability

“Accountability separates the wishers in life from the action-takers that care enough about their future to account for their daily actions.” ~ John Di Lemme

Today’s episode calls you to be accountable.

If you’ve set your goals, worked on your inner self talk and beliefs through affirmations and visualisation, know the actions to make those goals happen for you and you’re all set to go – what’s going to keep you on track?

What will motivate you when events throw you off course, you reach a plateau or your goals feel out of reach?

It’s the 9th of our 10 Changeability steps and it’s a big one – accountability or to put it another way - find a way to be accountable.

Accountable for your actions, your goals, yourself.

In episode 50 of The Changeability Podcast you’ll find out:

• The sort of numbers Kathryn likes (random!)
• What’s The Changeability Starter Kit
• A definition of accountability and other ways of thinking about it
• Why accountability isn’t dull
• Why you didn’t want to be a Roman engineer
• What weight loss companies, coaches, mentors and mastermind groups have in common
• What’s a mastermind group anyway
• Why we were working 2 hours before leaving for Heathrow when we should have been packing
• 6 ways to be accountable
• Why you want to join the private Changeability Facebook Group

What to do next

Sign up for your Changeability Starter Kit today

Join the Changeability Facebook group and share your goals – use us to keep you accountable

Links and resources mentioned in episode 50

• The Changeability Starter Kit
• Affirmations - affirmation products
• Visualisation - visualisation products
• Episode 48 - Action Planning for Success
• Episode 49 - Time for Action
• UK Podcasters (link to New Media Europe aff link)
• The private free Changeability Facebook Group

Vote for us

Show us some love by nominating the Changeability Podcast for the first ever UK Podcaster’s Awards.  It’s super simple to do and we’ll be forever grateful to you. 

Go to this link and click ‘Nominate this podcast now’

Vote via email, Facebook or Google

If by email don’t forget to confirm the email that comes to you to verify you’re a real person.

And if you really like us you can nominate us once a day every day for the rest of July – you amazing person!

“Thought and theory must precede all salutary action; yet action is nobler in itself than either thought or theory.” ~ Virginia Woolf

You know what you want, you’ve created your vision and set your goals. You’ve got in the right mindset and done the mental preparation.

You’ve planned your actions and know where to start – so what now? Well it’s time to actually do it – it’s time for action.

Planning for action is key but none of it matters if you don't put your plan into action and follow through on your goals.

Changeability is about taking action.

But it’s not a ‘running around like a headless chicken’ sort of action. It’s not being busy for the sake of it action.

It’s about managing your mind to make changes in your life, and that means it’s action based on mind management techniques.

The very techniques we talk about on The Changeability Podcast and are laid out in the Changeability: Manage your Mind – Change your Life book.

If you follow and practice these your action becomes:

• Action born of your vision and goals
• Action grounded in attaining the results of your visualization.
• Action in line with the empowering beliefs of your affirmations.
• Action founded on the energy generated through appreciation.
• Action centred in mindfulness of your present experience, making it count.
• Action stemming from the creativity of your subconscious.
• Action implemented with the clarity and focus arising from meditative practice.

It’s time for action, but there’s potential traps stopping you.

Procrastination

Procrastination is the number 1 killer of action, but what’s behind it?

• Fear - Sometimes we’re afraid of either the action itself or the outcome if we achieve it, so we find other things to do to distract us
• Uncertainty - We’re unsure what to do to get going
• Perfectionist tendencies

Overcoming procrastination

• Examine the thoughts and beliefs behind the fear and use affirmations to replace them with positive affirming beliefs
• Acknowledge the fear and get on with the action
• Recognise it wont be perfect and this is a delaying tactic
• Think in terms of days not months or years, to bring your future self nearer to your present self and raise awareness of the price of not taking action

Busyness for the sake of busyness

Sometimes we just like to feel we’re busy. Being busy is almost addictive and makes us feel like we’re achieving something even if it’s not the actions we need to take to get us to our goals.

Set your priority and prioritise it

Make this your one thing to get done before moving on to other activities

The ‘to-do’ list

Surely the most simple productivity tip of all time is the good old fashioned humble to-do list.

• Try writing it by hand with a box to tick it off when completed
• Write your to-do list the night before, so you can get up and get on without thinking about what you need to do

Action on action

The time for action is now – and the key is consistency and purposeful activity.

• Take positive consistent action every day
• Ask yourself if your actions today support your goals

The Changeability Podcast episode 49

In episode 49 of The changeability Podcast – Time for Action – we talk about all of this and more including:

• What stops us taking the action (even when we think we want to take it)
• Tips for overcoming procrastination and being busy
• What’s going on in Kathryn’s mind when she should be taking action
• 5 ways to help you take action everyday
• What to do when you feel stuck
• How to deal with self-sabotaging thoughts
• The question you need to answer everyday

“It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any.” Hugh Laurie

What about you?

What are you taking action on today? Let us know in the comments below.

If you like listening to The Changeability Podcast help us out

Nominations have opened for the first ever UK Podcasters’ Awards and are open for the whole of July.  If you like our podcast we would absolutely love it if you’d consider nominating us for a UK Podcast Award.

You can nominate us up to once a day for each day of July – so if you really love us you can do it everyday – but even once would be fabulous.

Simply click here and then on ‘nominate this podcast’.

You’ll be asked to verify it with an email address, Facebook or Twitter (this is to make sure it’s only 1 vote per podcast per day).

Thank you very much K and J xxx