Two steps to accomplish anything? Such a bold statement. And totally true.

I’ll share the two steps, but first, let me back up…  This showed up in my Facebook “memories” today. Six years ago, I posted:

Six years ago, we made an EIGHT YEAR PLAN. We started talking about it a couple of years before that, but on this day, July 19, six years ago, we made a plan. And we told people about it. And for the past six years we’ve been working toward it. And in a couple of weeks, we will close on our sailboat. And we followed the two-step plan I’m going to share with you.

When I saw this notification pop up in my newsfeed today, it reminded me that throughout my life I’ve done things that most people think are impossible. My family has teased me about my “five-year plans.” My friends have wondered, “How in the world did you do that?” But mostly, they are all dumbfounded, yet impressed, that when I set my mind to do something, I accomplish it.

• A five-year plan to get married/have babies? That’s crazy. Did it. We’ve now been married 11.5 years and have two teenage step-kids and a set of Irish twins (9&10 year old boys)
• IronMan triathlon? What is wrong with you? Did it. IronMan Canada 2002. IronMan race = 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run.
• Lose 50+ lbs? I could never. Did it. It took a full year (average weight loss of 1 lb/week.)
• Pay off $110,000 in credit card debt? Holy shit, how/why did you event get there, much less figure out how to pay it off? Did it. And I will write another post about getting out of debt (and how we got there in the first place) another day.
• Eight-year plan to sail around the world? Sure, whatever, we’ll believe it when we see it. Are you watching? We are buying a boat.

I’m not bragging. Okay, maybe bragging a little. But people always seem to be genuinely surprised when I accomplish something that seems, I guess, not accomplishable (is that a word?)

I read this phrase once, and it is SUCH A GREAT QUOTE – and it has been a mantra for me.

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.” – Jim Rohn

This is it. This is how everything works. THIS is the secret.

It is so simple. It is not, however, easy.

So, what are the two steps to accomplish anything? The two steps that I’ve followed to complete an IronMan Triathlon? To lose 50+ lbs? To get out of debt? And to follow our dream to sail around the world?

Here it is:

1. Decide to do something. 
2. Do it.

These two steps have worked for me every. single. time. Every time.

And here’s the thing. Until you decide you want to do something more than you want to do almost anything else, you will continue to make excuses as to why you can’t get it done. That’s why these two steps work for anything.

But I want to clarify the difference between “deciding” to DO something and “wishing” for something to happen.  I hear people say all the time, “I wish I could do that.” I can wish for a lot of things, too… I can wish to be skinny. I can wish to be rich. I can wish to live on a sailboat and travel the world. But until I follow step one – decide to do it – then I probably won’t accomplish step two – do it.

Step one: Decide to do something. Yes, when I was 30 years old, I decided to get married within five years. Five year plan to get married? I admit that seems crazy. Who does that? But this is how you know these two steps work. 1) Decide to do something. 2) Do it. Here’s the story of how I accomplished it:

As a kid growing up, the only thing I really wanted to be when I grew up was a mom. When I was still single as I turned 30 years old (after wishing for a long time to be married with children, but doing nothing to actually make it happen, and quite honestly probably sabotaging my chances up to that point), I had an opportunity to purchase my first home. It was bittersweet, as I assumed my first home would be as a newlywed with my husband.

When I purchased the house, I made a decision. “I will only live here for five years or less because I will be married with kids, and move out of the house within five years.” I chose the 5-year-ARM interest rate to keep me in check. I would not be in that house when the interest rate increased. I told everyone my plan (they all laughed at me.) But I knew: I had to be out of the house, and married, within five years. It was at this point (and only at this point), I changed my whole approach to boys and dating. I did therapy. I stopped judging. I got rid of lists. I tried online dating. I let my friends set me up. I let go of fears and my ego. I opened my heart. And after a lot of not-Mr.-Rights, I met Matt. I was 32 when we met. 33 when we married. And I was 34 when I moved out of my 5-year-plan house. I accomplished step two in four years. 

Step One: Decide to do something. On July 19, 2009, we decided to sail around the world within eight years. Right now, we are in year six of our eight year plan. We are buying our boat, and we plan to launch next year (seven years in.) It hasn’t been easy, but when we decided this is what we wanted to do, we changed our whole approach to life and everything has revolved around getting us to this point. We learned how to live on a budget. We learned how to get out of debt. We went to boat shows. We toured boats. We read blogs. We went sailing. We have spent the last six years working toward our goal.

We’ve talked to a few friends lately who had no idea we had been working toward this. And they wanted to know if we had won the lottery. Nope. This hasn’t happened overnight. We’ve spent six years planning. Before that, we spent two years wishing… there is a difference.