Conscious versus the subconscious mind; moving from motion into action

In Atomic Habits James Clear bought us the great quote “motion is not action”.

Have you ever set yourself a goal or had a project in front of you and for some reason you don’t make real progress?  You know what you could or should be doing, but you don’t take the steps that are going to get you started or help you achieve that goal? 

You want to join a running club but you spend all of your time checking it out on the internet but not actually taking the steps to join and show up to your first run. 

You are thinking about doing a leadership course but you never sign up or commit to starting anything.

You want to put your hand up for a new role or promotion, you look at job ads but your not ready, so you don’t apply.

You want to do some study, you know which course you want to do, when it starts, how much it costs you even know what the time commitment is but you don’t enroll.

This is motion.

Motion on its own will not achieve a result.  Simply put, if you want to achieve your desired outcomes you need to put action in place.

That’s not to say there isn’t a place for motion.  Motion can include strategizing, planning, researching and evaluating.  The important thing to know about motion is that it can become a trap.  There are times when we can become stuck there.

The first step is to recognise, am I stuck in motion?

The second question is why?

There are plenty of reason we can get stuck in motion.  Fear of failure or putting yourself out there, being outside your comfort zone, limiting beliefs or a fixed mindset, fear of judgement of others, maybe you aren’t focusing on the right thing, or it’s a distraction from what you really want.

Let me introduce you to your subconscious mind, its brilliant at keeping you comfortable.

We know what we know.

If I asked you to tell me about an area where you were stuck in motion I’m sure you could logically tell me all of the reasons why.  You might be waiting on information from someone else, or for someone else to make a decision, you are waiting on the gym to get back to you with membership prices, you cant start for a few weeks because of everything else that is going on in life, you know it will be time consuming and take effort, you want to give yourself the best chance of success right? 

When we have these internal thoughts part of that dialogue is that motion is action, we are actually doing something, something that needs to be done and will be the foundation of the result.  It helps us to reassure ourselves and not feel vulnerable.

Is this thinking really serving you?

Motion can become a problem when we don’t move past the motion phase into action.

For one moment let go of what you know and let me ask you what is the real reason you aren’t taking action?  This question is designed to tap the subconscious mind.

This is when we get in touch with our fears, our self doubt or lack of confidence, what is outside our comfort zone, areas where we may need to ask for help.  What we think is the thing, is very rarely really the thing when we take the time to tune into our thoughts and feelings.

When we tap into our subconscious mind we can learn about ourselves and the real reason we are holding ourself back and know how to best move forward.

If you know the true reason why you are stuck in motion, then you can take the right steps to get into action.

What these steps can look like for you:

• Share what you have just learnt with a trusted friend, colleague or mentor,
• If you need help in a certain area ask for it,
• Set a deadline, or time frame for a deliverable that requires action,
• Create the accountability you need to stick to your action.

Are you feeling stuck in motion? In my coaching practice I use tools to help people like you uncover their subconscious thoughts that may be holding them back or have become limiting beliefs.  Get in touch if you want to learn more [email protected]