Don’t get me wrong, I love that you’re reading this. But if you’re anything like me, you love to read article after article on motivation, productivity, personal development, and other topics you’re interested in, instead of actually doing something related to those topics. We’d like to call it research, or motivation, but the truth is we’re just procrastinating. And sometimes we need someone else to tell us to get our butts out of that chair, and actually walk the talk. And that, my dear reader, is where I come in. So today, I want you to do at least one of these things:

Do one action to further one of your goals

Interested in improving your design skills? Stop reading design tutorials and actually DO one of them, right now. Been trying to save up? If you already have a account for those savings, transfer a small amount into there, right now. Want to get a better looking garden? Dig a hole, plant a seed. Yes, right now.

Those of you who are familiar with articles on motivation tips will no doubt realise that this is similar to the concept of “the first five minutes”, where you tell yourself to do the smallest beginning action (or time period, thus the name) of an otherwise daunting task, to get the momentum going. While this is of course a wonderful side benefit, my aim here is to just get you to do SOMETHING. Whether or not you continue to do the rest of the task is up to you, but it’s important that you don’t just sit around doing nothing but wishing about it.

Make a plan, and share it

Leo Babauta of Zenhabits (and many other bloggers) will no doubt agree that the best way to commit yourself to a goal is to tell someone about it. And when you step back and think about it, that’s actually a perfect first step. Simply telling someone something doesn’t require much effort, but once you’ve said it, you’ll realise that “Crap, there’s no backing down now. I have to do this.” And that kind of commitment is not something you can back away from or abandon easily. So in addition to the original reasons of why you’re pursuing this goal/plan, you now have an extra layer of motivation on top to get you going.

Do you have a plan that you’ve been mulling about recently? Do you have an idea that you want to pursue? Let me know about it in the comments, and you’ll be on the first step towards realizing your plan. Plus, there’s the bonus factor of me thinking that you’re awesome for being so brave.

Connect with the Moment

Hey, just because you have a few minutes doesn’t always mean you need to be running around conquering the world. Sometimes you can just indulge in the luxury of having a few moments to connect with the world around you. I’ve written about this before, and it’s moments like these that I find are the best to put this concept into practice. Don’t mistake it for doing nothing. Instead of passively sitting in your chair and letting information from this article (or your Facebook page, as I’m sure some of you are doing now) wash over your eyes and brain, I want you to actively pay attention to everything around you. Develop a sense of mindful awareness of the little things that are happening around you. I feel it’s good to do this every once in a while to keep a sense of perspective in your life.

Make these 3 things a natural reaction

I want you to bookmark this page, and read it every once in a while. Whenever you feel like you’re just reading an online article for the sake of reading, whether it’s this one, or any others, I want you to do one of these 3 things. These little actions will build up, and one day, you’ll be amazed at just how much you’ve accomplished by making this a habit.

Until then, off with you. Get to work on it!