Today it is time to M.O.V.E.!

You may be thinking “what is she talking about?”….maybe you are thinking of moving
as physically into another house, or your office into another building….or moving
your body like exercising and dancing and yoga and tai chi (which are totally
great things to do!) But I am going to share with you how you can use the word
MOVE as a powerful acronym where each letter of the word represents an
an important step to get you to where you want to go in your life.

As physicians we tend to think methodically in an organized fashion and have learned a lot of
things through the use of acronyms as an easy way to learn a list of things and to
remember them (the remember is the important part because we know that we
can learn things and then sometimes they just disappear…right?) And acronyms
are really fun!

The M.O.V.E. acronym helps you get from point A to point B in your
life. Whatever that goal may be….nothing is too small or too big. It can be super
stressful when you want to achieve something and it seems like it is incredibly far
away, out of reach, impossible….like it is “way over there” Sometimes you
aren’t even really sure what “it” is exactly. May be it is related to your work, or a
project you want to take on, a side gig, improving your relationship with another
person (colleague, staff, family—partner, spouse, child, parent, sibling), or getting
healthier – exercising, eating better, relieving your stress (now you know I am all
about this one!)

I find the best way to get something that seems complicated and out of reach
(which causes a lot of stress!) actually done, is to deconstruct it into smaller “bite
size” digestible doable pieces. That is what M.O.V.E. does for you:

M = Make a decision * Mean it * Must do * Massive action

Make a decision to commit to yourself to achieve your goal. Whatever that goal
is. Remember that no goal is too small. Decide that it is time to commit to you!
You may spend tons of time, may be most of your time, committing to helping
and serving others. So now it is time to make a decision to commit to yourself and say yes to you!

Really really mean it—and make it a must do. So you know that fleeting “feel
good” feeling of accomplishment when you think for a second about doing
something that excites you….something for yourself….which then quickly
dissipates…dissolves…goes away when your brain moves onto the next thing and
then you get involved with something else without actually making the
commitment to yourself to do the thing that would make you happy in the first
place…and then that fleeting wonderful feeling comes back again when the
thought comes back…but then it goes away when it is just a thought without any
commitment….

So when you instead make the commitment to yourself and mean it -” in this
very moment I am committing to myself”… tell yourself it is a must do….you can
begin to take massive action. Realize that the only thing stopping you from taking
that very 1st step forward is you. No one else. So it is time to take that 1st step. Just
one step forward.

O = Observe * Obstacles

Looking through the lens of the observer…just being curious without
judgement….Where are you right now in your life? Why is it that you haven’t
began or achieved your goal? What do you consider to be the obstacles? Many
times huge obstacles are actually the words your brain creates…with over 60K
thoughts per day….the problem is that many times it is how your brain is talking
to you….and I bet that many are thoughts about things that you want to
do…achieve….that start out with these 4 words….“if I could only”….________ (fill
in the blank)……such as: get more work done in any given day….make more money….start
that business….get along better with the people at work….get along better with
my family….lose weight….sleep more….feel less stressed… ok so you fill in the
blank for you….and that blank changes all of the time….

Recognize the phrase, “if I could only”, is very passive, like being a backseat passenger in a car…you have no say over where that car is going….”if I could only” keeps you outside the circle of your success. So choose the words that you want to believe to make yourself
the driver in the car. Having an “I can” attitude is so much more effective and
powerful. “I can….________”(fill in the blank). Because you can. Write it down. Put
it on a sticky note where you can see it. I have tons of sticky notes all over! Say it
out loud over and over each day. And when you say it enough and see it enough,
you will begin to believe it too and get yourself out of the passenger seat and into
the driver’s seat on the way to achieving your goal.

V = Visualize

In order to manifest your goal, it is important to visualize it….imagine it….and do it
with as many senses as possible. Write it down, draw it to see it, close your eyes
and imagine it in your mind’s eye, put yourself there and notice what it feels like,
where and how do you feel this in your body when you have achieved your goal.

Create “visualize reminders” – I do this in 2 ways: #1–I have a sticky note on my
computer monitor that says the word visualize and I drew a wide open eye
beneath it that I see when I am working at my desk. And #2– I set my phone
timer to daily remind me to visualize as well—it just says the word “visualize”
each morning. These 2 visualize reminders work very well for me—try them out!

E: Execute/Evolve

E has 2 parts—let’s start with execute: Take a piece of paper or open a blank
computer page and write/type your goal and then beneath it all of the things that
you need to do to get there. Every single thing. Now imagine a staircase and your goal is at the top step. When you want to get to the top step in staircase, you can’t just take one step to get there, right? You need to take one step at a time. So draw a staircase and
write your goal at the top step. And then write on all the other steps what you
have to do to get there. I am a very visual person so this works well for me and for
so many of my clients as well. And it makes your tasks so much more doable and
achievable and significantly decreases your stress level when you can just take
one step at a time. And you can cross off or check off each step when you achieve
it. It feels so very good each time you get to do that and take a step forward and
evolve!

I hope that you find this way to M.O.V.E. helpful so you can achieve your goals! In review:

Make a decision/mean it/must do
Observe where you are and any obstacles
Visualize where you want to go
Execute and evolve

You got this!