Episode 005: From Inspiration to Action: Embracing Effort and Taking Baby Steps

Welcome to Limitless with Lisa Z. A podcast about how to move from inspiration to action and bring our dreams to life. I'm Lisa Zahiya, and each week I'll release two podcasts, one where I walk you through action steps about how to make your dreams a reality with another podcast in which I interview amazing change-makers from all over the world. This podcast isn't just for listening. Take notes and take action. Let's ignite and change the world together.

Hey, y'all, this is Lisa Zahiya, and this is episode three in our “How to Guide” of “How to Go from Inspiration to Action.” In Podcast One, I talked about equalizing effort and action. And in podcast two, I talked a lot about how to figure out what is distracting you and how to really evaluate; am I reflecting who I am by how I'm spending my resources? 

Today is all about starting to take action. So I see a lot of people getting stuck. They have good ideas, but they feel really stuck, stuck, stuck, stuck around this part. So I'm gonna go through a couple of ways that I and also work with my clients to put in effort. So today we're actually not gonna talk about action, we're gonna talk about effort. In week one, I said, does your effort equalize your desire? And today we're gonna; we're actually gonna talk about it's time for a little sweat equity. It's time to get the thing done.  And I actually want to start encouraging you to think about it like this, which is, how can I think about, instead of thinking, how can I get things done, how can I put in effort today? Did I lift the weight to put in the effort? And by the weight, I mean did I take an action to move towards my dreams?

So on any day, I think it's worth checking in, in the morning and in the evening of, did I put in effort today, did I sweat a little bit? Our dreams deserve sweat. And I think a lot of times I see a confusion between, people are resisting a lot of hard work because they are rightfully so resisting, a system that we've learned how operate within, especially in the United States. And really in a lot of places, that is a patriarchal system where we are valued by effort, we are valued by what we're producing, however, you have every right to move towards your dreams. So I think not having to operate within that system doesn't mean not doing anything or it doesn't to me. So I wanna encourage you all to think what is the effort I'm gonna do today? Because my dreams, my dreams that I identified in week one, they deserve sweat, they deserve effort. Like how good would it feel to work hard and do the thing? So to that end, the first step I wanna say is I would like you to work on a weekly practice, a daily practice even of getting uncomfortable. So what would it look like to embrace getting uncomfortable? And you have to identify what's uncomfortable for you. What I see with a lot of female entrepreneurs is that there's an uncomfortability, is that a word? Anyway, people are uncomfortable around asking, asking a client for money, asking to speak at the gig, asking to do something because it feels uncomfortable. We're putting ourselves out there. We're standing in our own value.

So what would it look like to get uncomfortable every day? I'm gonna parallel this to fitness without going into fitness culture, but as somebody, for me as a weightlifter, I can't increase my weight without it being uncomfortable. Like I could just give the little baby pink weights. Yeah, like, that's fine, but I'm not gonna change. Also, why are they pink? That's just awful. But I can't just lift a one-pound weight and think that anything's gonna change. So the first thing I'd like you to do is make a list of these are the things I should be doing that make me uncomfortable. These are the list of things I should be doing that make me uncomfortable. And then I want you to start scheduling those things into your day. And I want you to also make sure you feel safe doing them. 

So this isn't trial by fire, we're not just throwing you in there. But I think my question is like, what can you do? And oftentimes doing something first in the day is the way to get that done. So the first thing I would say is do it first. Do it first thing in the morning. Get uncomfortable and do all the things. Then you can write the things or design the things that feel really safe. 

So what do I need to create a safe space for myself, support system, get a coach, have a community of entrepreneurs, and then, I'm gonna choose to get uncomfortable in this space that I feel safe. 

This podcast is brought to you by coaching with Lisa Zahi, a business development company which provides strategy coaching and staffing support to mission-driven businesses. We help create bold and impactful businesses and to help the founders become the people who can do it. Curious about how to grow your business? Schedule a free consultation at www.chatwithlisaz.com. 

The next thing I wanna talk about is an affirmation that I use a lot. And I do say things out loud to myself all the time, and it is, this is what it feels like to get better. I mentioned in the last episode the book by Nir Eyal, and I took a course with him and he used that. But at any particular point, I will say to myself, when something is uncomfortable, this thing isn't bad. This is what it feels like to get better. This is what it feels like for me to master sales. This is what it feels like for me to create a reel every day and get really consistent. 

So step one is develop a practice of being uncomfortable. Step two is use that affirmation. This is what it feels like to get better. And within that, I actually wanna say that that goes into our next step, which is to take action. And we're gonna use baby steps. Rae talked about this in the first podcast. Hopefully, you're listening to these accompanying interviews by people who are super inspirational. But they talked about taking baby steps, meaning I take tiny steps to move in the direction of what I want. And I actually think that baby steps are superior to big, crazy actions because they're easier to pivot. If you imagine if you came out of a store and you were supposed to walk north and you walked south, it would be easier to turn around and go the other way if I was walking instead of biking. And it'd be easier to turn around biking instead of driving. So like the slower that we go tiny steps, the easier it's gonna be to pivot. And then that also goes back into that issue of personal safety. Like, does this feel safe to me? 

And I think that with the baby steps, an example of that could be, I'm working on making reels. So the baby step, instead of doing some full-fledged, highly edited thing is tape everything in one day. And then I'm gonna take the baby step of putting it out, uh, to a list of people. You can make different lists on Instagram that feel safe to you. So, baby steps, baby steps, baby steps. So I wanna challenge you to do three baby steps per action per day. So three baby steps per action per day. 

And then finally, I want to talk to you about how to actually make a change in the world. So within that, what I wanna talk about is you're not gonna get up in the morning and be like, today, I'm gonna get uncomfortable. I need to put that all over my darn house, in my car, and just, just put it in front of me and remind myself, set a bunch of reminders in your phone of whatever action I'm gonna choose. That's gonna be a new pattern for myself.

So, folks, that is your quick and dirty eight-minute take on how to start to put in the effort. And then in week four, we're gonna do hacks for starting to create the life, the business of your dreams, and to truly put your inspiration into the world.

If you have any feedback, let me know. We'd love for you to subscribe to this podcast anywhere you found it. And of course, super excited for you to hear all the interviews. This week is Alyssa, and please go back last week was Eduardo and the week before was Rae. We're so happy you're here and I hope you are putting your transformation, your vision, your heart, into the world. 

That's it, folks. Another amazing episode of Limitless with Lisa Z. I am inspired and wanna give you the homework. Take some notes, take action. Do one thing today that can move you towards your dreams—got feedback. Let us know. You can write to us at lisa@lisazahiya.com or visit us at www.lisazahiya.com.