A Belief Plan Creates More Success Than A To-Do List

We've all been told about the importance of to-do lists. While I have use them for my personal life as a way of keeping myself organized, I recently shifted to using a Belief Plan for my business. Part of the reason for this is because I noticed that while I was writing out my to-do list and thinking about all the actions that I needed to take in order to achieve my goals, I started questioning if what I was doing was actually creating the results I was seeking. I wondered if all of the time and energy I was spending on them was worthwhile. I noticed emotionally, I felt confused, stressed and overwhelm.

If you've read Atomic Habits, you know that when we choose a goal, or an outcome, we don't always have the part within ourselves to support that goal. In other words, when we begin our success journey, we may not immediate identify as the person who has achieved that goal. We don't have the values, habits, mindset and beliefs of a person who has accomplished what we're after. However, as we experience small successes we begin to take on some of those qualities and our identity shifts. For example, a few years ago I decided to run half marathons. In the beginning, I did not identify myself as a runner. As I progressed through the training program, running became easier and I was able to run more miles. Eventually, I began identifying myself as a runner. Once I ran the first half marathon, I identified myself as a person who runs half marathons and signed up for more. In similar fashion, when I started my coaching journey, I started off as a student. After I passed the certification exam and was ICF accredited, I took on the identity of a baby coach. A few years later as I grew in my confidence, my identity shifted to “I'm a coach who gets paid for coaching.” As my business continues to grow, I keep taking on new identities to help me achieve my next level.

One thing that I have used to help set the stage for my success is daily affirmations. Affirmations are positive statements said in present tense that I view as verbally claiming what it is that I want to achieve. It is speaking as if I have already become the person I want to be, doing the things that I want to do and have the things I want to have.  In the same regard, a Belief Plan is a set of beliefs that I am wanting to believe that will inspire me to take action in order to create the results I seek. These beliefs are based on the identity of a person who has already achieved the outcome.

When I was starting my business, I was keeping myself busy taking action that I thought was necessary for me to achieve my goals. I had a business coach tell me that I needed to write 100 blog posts. Another one told me I needed to get my website done. A third told me I needed to figure out my niche, create my “plane crashing” solution, and plan out my program. These all became things that I added to my to-do list. And do you think any of them created the results I was after, serving my clients and making enough money to support the lifestyle I wanted? NO! Doing these things, while they seemed productive and I felt good about getting them done, they didn't actually contribute to my goals! While I was busy listening to other people tell me what to do, I completely forgot that it isn't action alone that create results. It is belief that does. THINKING CREATES RESULTS.

While I was taking lots of action, putting myself out there through willpower, motivation, determination and being courageous and bold; at the core, I was coming from the place of being the person who hadn't yet achieved her goal or next level. I hadn't yet experienced the identity shift to take action as the version of the person I wanted to be. I needed to become someone different. I needed to go out and do things that the person who achieved my goals would do and do them in the manner she would.

When we are so focused on staying busy, we fail to focus on what really matters. We fail to incorporate the identity of already having what we've set out to achieve. When we embody being the person who already is, has and does the things that we desire; not a person who is well on their way, not a person who is working to achieve, but actually as a person who has already achieved the goal.... Being that person and showing up as that person in every situation we find ourselves... If we are taking action from that position, it doesn't matter what we do. We will get the results we seek.

Think about it. What is it that you spend time thinking you need to do, or you spend a lot of time doing, that isn't time spent believing that you're the person who has achieved the success and results you desire? All that time that you spend is basically wasted. It really is. It is spending time, energy and effort that you actually don't have to spend. It is like focusing on the wrong thing or driving your car in the wrong direction. For example, you want to go to Target and you drive for 5 miles in the opposite direction. And that is why so many of my clients come to me after they're burnt out, frustrated, overwhelmed, anxious and think “I'm never going to get the results I seek.” It is simply because they have been driving in the wrong direction for 5 miles. When you find out you've gone the wrong way, especially for a long time, that is incredibly frustrating! When you are focusing on all those things you think you need to do in order to be, do, and have the things you desire, it is as if you missed the exit and the next one is 20 miles away. And then you have to take that 40 mile detour to come back to the right exit. The exit you want to get off on is the belief where you are the person who is, has and does the things you desire and fully embodying that. It is the fastest way to get to where you want to be.

Think about how much effort and time you spend that isn't believing that you're a success. Ask yourself “Is there anything I did today that grew my belief?” Maybe you went to the gym and dilly-dallied for awhile without really getting fully engaged in the activity. Although you went to the gym, the fact that you weren't fully engaged isn't going to grow your belief and it isn't going to get you the result you seek, a strong and slender body. On the other hand, if you're growing your business and went to a networking event and told 20 people what you do and afterwards you were like “Wow, I can do this!” There was a shift in your belief and so now you're more likely to get the results you seek. The point I want to make is that there are times you do things and nothing shifts and no growth happens; and there are times that you do something and it changes your life. You become a different person.

I love it when my clients text me in the middle of a day and tell me they've done something and they are like “Oh my gosh, Molly. Your right. I took this action and feel like a different human being. I'm on top of the world. I'm really feeling like I'm the person who gets what she wants, has success, achieves all that I desire!” That's activity that grew out of their belief. The real purpose is to go out and take action to create beliefs and by embodying a new identity, the identity of the person you want to be, the person who is achieving the goals you've set for yourself. What matters is that you change how you see yourself. Look at your to-do list and ask “Is this to-do list going to change how I see myself?” Maybe it is... maybe it is not.

As you look at your to-do list, notice that it is all the things that you need to do to get what you want. It is your process, the second layer of Atomic Habits' bulls-eye. The Belief Plan is all the things you need to think in order to create what you want. It is the identity you need to take on in order to create the results you seek. It is what you need to believe about yourself. This is what is at the core of the Atomic Habits' model.

The Belief Plan is a to-do list for your brain, a “to believe” list sort of speak. Instead of writing a to-do list which would include items such as:  go to the gym, eat a salad for lunch, complete an application, sign up for a job fair, attend a networking event, write 1000 words... what if instead you wrote a list of what you need to believe to in order to create success TODAY, not 6 weeks from now, not by the end of the year, but TODAY, in this exact moment? What would shift in you if each morning, you woke up and asked yourself “What do I need to believe to lose a pound?” “What do I need to think in order to secure a job or another client?” “What thoughts do I need to have to get my book written?” Maybe you'll think “I am a fit, healthy person.” “I am valuable and people want what I have to offer.” “There are 5 people waiting to read my book.” Maybe that's your brain list, your Belief Plan for the day. Imagine if you spent your time consciously believing those things and take action based on those beliefs. The way you approach that action will be drastically different and it will take less time to get the job done. You'll be coming from a place of confidence, not the dread of “having to do.”

Whatever we list, we give importance to. So if you make a to-do list, you're giving importance to the action part of getting results which is not actually what creates results. It is our beliefs that create results. With the Belief Plan, instead of giving importance to what you think you need to do to achieve your goals, you give importance to what you need to think in order to achieve them. Now here's the thing with the Belief Plan. You have to go to work on it as if it is your action plan. You have to measure your productivity on a day-to-day basis based on whether you developed a stronger belief in yourself or not. Whether you can feel it in your body or not. When you self-coach or you get coached, you have a plan; “These are the beliefs that I am specifically working on.” I have some people who come to me and don't know what to be coached on. If you do a Belief Plan every single day, you'll always know what to be coached on.

And at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself “Did something inside of me change today?” If not, you were not productive. Not in the way that will get you the results you seek. It is important to note that your brain will tell you that you believe something even when you don't. There are people who tell me “Oh yeah, I worked on that belief. I believe it.” Yet, they continue to get the opposite of the results they seek. The way you know you are believing and following through on your Belief Plan is if you notice progress is happening with ease and flow. And the way you know it is not working, is if you are working on the same beliefs day after day and nothing is shifting. You continually feel stressed, overwhelm, stuck and are spinning in confusion, doubt, and self pity. You're drowning in jealousy, envy and judgment as you compare and despair.

What you should be working on is what you need to be thinking in order create the success you desire. What can you think right now in this moment that will fuel your inspiration, excitement, motivation, and certainty? What will make you feel at ease about moving towards your goal? Write those thoughts down and keep that paper so you can look at it every day. That is what is on your agenda for the day. Decide on a measurable result to prove that you believe those thoughts. For example, how I know I am doing the work and believing in myself is that I will schedule a consult or sign a client. For my clients, they are setting goals each month and achieving them. They have a long list of what is working for them and they know exactly what they need to believe in any given moment.

Now you get to go work on intentionally believing that your thoughts will create your success. You get to put all of your attention on that. Make it your job this week to step into those beliefs. And how you know if you did your job is if you have the tangible results to prove it, not as the person you are now, but as the person who already believes these thoughts, someone who has already achieved success.

If you're struggling with your beliefs, hire a coach. Getting someone who is outside of our thinking can give us a different perspective and show us where we are believing our own stories. We can't solve a problem with the mind that created it. If you are doing self-coaching, make sure you are coaching yourself from the place of who you want to be, the one who has already achieved success. If you are stuck in the same belief and are constantly coaching yourself on the same things over and over again, you are not letting go of the beliefs. You are just staying the same. If you get up from coaching yourself as the exact same person who sat down, then you are not self-coaching yourself in a productive way. And you are not shifting your beliefs. You are wasting time. When you are coaching yourself or getting coached on new beliefs, you should leave feeling inspired and compelled to take action. You should feel a shift inside of you and if you do that consistently you will get results. The Belief Plan gives you direction in that. I think we sometimes sit down to coach ourselves or get coached and we have zero direction and so I want you to always have your Belief Plan, “This is exactly what I need to work on to believe and once I do I will create my own success.”

When I am believing the thoughts of my future self who has achieved all of my goals, I think about what I will be doing; how will I feel; what will I be inspired to do; and all of those things. I make a list and add them into my plan. Instead of thinking “What do I need to be doing and what should I be spending my time on?” It starts with “What do I need to believe?” This is my Belief Plan, the things I am going to focus on believing today, and then tomorrow. Maybe I keep some of them or maybe tomorrow what I need to believe is different from what I need to believe today. I always want to be focused on “my thoughts create my results." So instead of a to-do list, I need a believe list. And that is going to be my action plan for the day and everything is going to be centered around “Does this fuel my belief or not? Will doing this change me or not?” It is a simple concept. Try it for a week. Throw out your to-do list for one week and every morning ask yourself “What do I need to believe today, in this moment, to create success?” Write it down. Focus on 3 beliefs that motivate you and then spend your day putting your attention on the possibility that those thoughts could be true. Spend time embodying those beliefs, like believing them so deeply that you feel it in your body. See what you're compelled to do, and not to do. Notice what you choose to focus on and how much it shifts. Maybe you do the exact things that you're already doing, but maybe the way you do them feels completely different. That's what you're looking for. I hope this is helpful. Throw the to-do list away and write your Belief Plan and then let me know what shifted for you.

What do you think it is that you need to do to go out and do in order to create the results you seek? What belief do you need to belief today in order to create success today, here in this moment?