As mentioned in an earlier post, the lack of Lift in our lives is almost never about a lack of Lift opportunities or resources. Once I became aware of my own need for Lift I began to see Lift sources all around, and many for free! So how do you take the first or next step to get the Lift you want and need?

Getting Lift starts with an awareness of several foundational elements. Here are an important few important questions to ask yourself that have helped me:

• Who are you are as a person?
• What are your core values?
• What are your real personal and professional interests?
• What does a picture of success look like for you?

Once you have adequate awareness in those areas, you can identify the Gap. What is the Gap? The Gap is the difference between where you are and where you want to be.

The next thing you need to think about and determine are the well-formed outcomes you want and can begin to take action towards. To do this effectively, your outcomes need to be:

• Stated in the positive (ie. “what do I want?” vs the negative of “I don’t want…..”)
• Self-initiated and self-maintained (ie. things within your control or influence, not dependent on someone else)
• Have demonstrable indicators (ie. something that will let you know you have achieved it or “arrived”)

Yes, your ultimate big goals and dreams will no doubt be influenced and dependent in part on other people and things beyond your control, but knowing what outcomes are required in pursuit of those big goals and dreams will increase the probability that you ultimately achieve them.

Once you know those two things- your Gap and your outcomes, you’ll know what kind of Lift resources and information you need. You can then put together an intentional and well-thought out action plan that will empower you to seek the Who and What that are missing. It will also give you the freedom to triage the trivial and get rid of or ignore non-essentials. Both of these will help you effectively narrow and ultimately close the Gap and get the Lift you want and need.

I’ve found that this process takes considerable thinking time, so don’t rush it (it did for me anyway). In addition, in order to make thinking time actually happen you’re going to have to schedule it. Taking time to think deeply is a key to building awareness; you can’t short-cut it and still achieve the success you otherwise could. Unfortunately, intentional thinking is something we don’t do nearly enough of and frankly most don’t know how to do it well or at all; it really has become a lost art in our noisy world. John Maxwell’s book “Thinking For A Change” was an invaluable help to me for developing my own intentional thinking framework and routine that I schedule and practice regularly. I highly recommend it.

Once you have clarity around key foundational elements of your life, have identified your Gap and outcomes, then planning and writing down how you are going to go about getting Lift won’t take long at all. So, in summary:

• Schedule a time to think (a minimum of 2hrs and in a distraction free setting)
• Ask yourself the key questions listed above and/or any others that are important to you
• Identify your Gap and the well-formed outcomes you want
• Once identified, write down your plan for getting more Lift in your life (the easy part)
• Finally, make sure you execute on your plan

I would love to hear how your Thinking time and pursuit of are going. I am happy to share what I have found has helped me.