Intentional Action: How to Move From Idea to Action

How to Take Intentional Action

Are you an ideas person? Is your mind always swimming with tons of ideas, but actually taking the steps to bring them to life feels impossible?

This blog provides a simple step by step guide in removing the block, pushing through the overwhelm and finally taking intentional action with confidence and clarity.

The key is in keeping your mind happy, while also having a way to offload all of the amazing ideas to remove the paralysis and finally get you working towards your most important goals and projects.

*Affiliate Disclosure: Some links in this post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something via the link, I may receive a small commission. This doesn't affect the price you pay.

If you have any questions, reach out for a chat [email protected] or check out my other blogs

The Gap Between Ideas & Action

There are several reasons why you struggle to move from idea to action. The top 4 reasons we'll focus on are:

1. You're Overwhelmed

You may have too much on your plate, or the thought of this goal feels totally overwhelming. When the end result seems far away, and there's a tonne of things you need to do to get there, it's easy to feel daunted by it, especially if you're juggling other things as well.

2. You don't have clarity on your goal / desired outcome

While you have the idea, it's still a little vague. You're unable to see exactly what you're aiming for, and what you need to do to get there.

Clarity of the goal means you can reverse engineer your route to it. When it's vague it's more difficult to think of it as a tangible outcome.

3. You get easily distracted

Do you have a squirrel brain?! I'm with you! If focusing on your task in hand is a struggle, it's going to make taking action more difficult. When there's so much you want to do, you can easily end up doing nothing at all.

4. You're afraid of failure

Fear of failing is one of the biggest reasons that stops you from just going for it. If you're afraid of pushing through discomfort, or challenging yourself outside of your comfort zone “in case it doesn't work out”, it never will!

Fear can be paralysing (think fight / flight / freeze / fawn). Intentional action is how you move through this and move from being a dreamer to a doer.

Tips for Taking Intentional Action

1. Clear the Decks

Brain Dump: Brain dumping is your secret weapon! The act of getting the thoughts and ideas out of your head and onto paper (or into your digital notes), relieves so much pressure.

Brain dumps free up much needed space in your overcrowded mind, and allows you to focus on what you're doing.

If you're an ideas person, your brain dump can act as your ideas board as well. This way you can put the latest idea to the side, but not worry about forgetting it. Write it down, and come back to it later!

2. Create Manageable Goals

Remove the focus on the outcome as much as possible. Instead, focus on the short term, daily goals. Once you come to review your progress you'll be able to see the bigger picture, but in the moment, focus only on the smaller goals you've set yourself.

If your goal for the day is to write and publish a blog post, break the steps into manageable goals. For example:

8-9am – 1st draft in Google Docs / Word.
9-9:15 – Break.
9:15-10 – Complete draft in Google Docs / Word.
10:15-10:45 – Set up Blog sections in website.
10:45-11:15 – Finish writing blog.
11:15-11:30 – Break.
11:30-12 – SEO, Images & Publish!

Working this way removes the daunting thought of writing and publishing a post in one day. You may do this much quicker, or it may take you longer, so adjust as fits your style and pace.

For other goals, the same principles apply. Take bigger goals and reverse plan them. Create a more realistic step by step roadmap of all of the tasks you need to tackle, paying attention to the timeline you set yourself.

Overwhelm can be the biggest blocker for taking intentional action, so be mindful of deadlines and how realistic they are.

3. Effective Planning for Intentional Action

Effective planning is essential when you want to move from idea to taking intentional action. However… Don't get stuck in the planning loop. If you are repeatedly planning, but not getting very far in between, you're most likely stuck in planning mode.

This can often happen due to self confidence, being easily distracted, or not being clear on what you need to do. It's a safe and exciting place to be. That “Right! Let's do this” can give a buzz, but when it comes to taking the action – you freeze and back to the planning board you go!

4. Prioritise Your Work

Prioritising your tasks may seem like an easy thing to so, but it's easy to get distracted by everything else that needs your attention.

Intentional action also needs intentional planning and focus. If you try to do a bit of everything, you'll make less progress overall. Prioritising your work is a great way to take you from that planning loop and into intentional action.

One method you can use is The 1,3,5 Rule:

5. Create an Action List

An action list will act as your weekly or daily plan / schedule. It's effectively a “to-do list“, but using the word “action” feels more motivating and less “Ugh, I got so many tasks I have to get finished today on my to-do list”…

Your action list is what you can work with every day. You add your top priorities, and any other steps that will help you progress towards your goals.

6. Review & Reflect

Frequently reviewing your goals and progress helps you remain focused and support you to take intentional action. It helps you identify things that may need adapting or changing completely.

When you have that birds eye view, you're able to keep on track, and ensure that your action is aligning with your bigger goals.

It's also a great motivator. When you're in the thick of it, it can be hard to see all of the progress you've made. It can be quite demotivating when you're working hard on the small steps each day, but the goal is still so far away.

Celebrate your progress each week – and when motivation dips, look at everything you've already achieved!

7. Short Focus Sessions

Use short focus sessions to help you ease into taking intentional action. By breaking the work day down into short sections, you remove the overwhelm that you can face when you see 8 hours ahead of you.

Make them fun, turn them into a challenge. For example, dedicate 30 minutes to working on a blog draft. Challenge yourself to write a certain amount of words in that time. It's great for increasing hyper focus, and the time will fly by, and will result in lots more work being completed.

8. Create Daily Habits

Reintroduce your daily habits and routines. You may choose to stagger these, so you build up over the course of a week, or for some, ripping off the plaster is the only way to get yourself going! Find what works for you. If one approach doesn't work for you – switch it up!

Results happen in the daily repetitive actions, so help yourself by creating habits to support your work. For example, dedicate time each morning to reflect and set intentions.

Or, prepare your workspace at the end of each day so that you're ready to go the next day!

9. Increase Rest Breaks

Increase your rest breaks to keep your energy and mood high. Allow yourself time to recharge while you're working towards your goals.

Breaks help your mind to reset and encourages creativity and flow. It's hard to feel motivated when you're exhausted… I talk about this more in the blog below!

10. Mindset Reset

Each of the 9 previous steps will support a positive mindset, but being intentional with your mental wellbeing will make all the difference.

Fear can be paralysing, so if you're worried about what you have to do, or you doubt you'll be able to achieve your goals, you're going to feel a strong resistance to taking intentional action.

If you don't believe you can, you won't feel energised or enthusiastic about doing anything at all.

Remind yourself that you can do what you put your mind to, but that it's okay to do things at your own pace.

Practice self care – take long walks, switch off completely from work and think about nourishing your body, mind and soul.

Take a look at this post where I explore the fear of failure in more depth:

Tools, Resources & Support

Here are some of my favourite tools and resources, some are my own products, others are from services I use within my own business.

Sunsama – A brilliant task management that is perfect for busy and neurodiverse minds who easily find themselves overwhelmed and distracted. grab a free 2 week trial and free month!

BigScoots – If you're looking for a top quality host for your website, I cannot recommend BigScoots enough. They are one of the best for bloggers, and their customer service is brilliant. They are very responsive & work closely with you to resolve any issues or answer any questions you may have.

Thought-Shifting Mini Journal – CBT-Based Thought Shifting Activities + mini journal with prompts

Canva Pro – Upgrade your content design with Canva Pro. Explore the enhanced features available in Pro. Grab your free trial here.

Etsy – Are you ready to create your own online store? Etsy is a brilliant shopping platform that's used by millions. Setting up your store is simple, and when you sign up with this link we both get 40 free listings!

Skool – Create your own community on Skool. As an introvert, it's now one of my favorite places to hang out! The communities I'm in are fantastic, and as a user I prefer the simplicity of the set up. You can create communities, lessons within those communities and gamify to encourage engagement. There's a 14 free trial period as well!

Final Thoughts

Moving from the planning to taking intentional action can be a huge block – and for some people – they may not know they're doing it!

When you can recognise that it is a safety behaviour, you can use this awareness to finally move away from fear and take those steps towards your goals.

It's normal to feel worry when something means so much to you, and that's where the feelings are coming from. But use the tips above to help you take the action you need towards those goals you desire!

Be courageous – you've got this!

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Meet Lynsey

Hey there! I'm Lynsey, a coach, counsellor, and mentor for low energy, introverted or low confident female coaches & small business owners. With over 5 years’ experience of running businesses, and over a decade as a tutor and trainer, I've learned the value of effective time management that energises you through working with your energy.

I've lived with chronic illness – ME/CFS since 2011 and since then I re-trained as a counsellor, and achieved a distinction for my MA in Counselling and Psychotherapy Practice; all while running 4 businesses! I want that for you as well & it is possible with the right support and pathway to success.

Improving your mindset, finding acceptance and developing a solution-focused approach to achieving your goals is my passion. Blending mental health support where needed, as well as a supportive space and methods to manage your work more effectively.

If you'd like to know more about working with me, you can email [email protected] or find me on socials (links in the menu)

Have you seen my online store Shop.QuietlyConquer? Find DFY templates, downloads & more!