Let’s be candid:  true growth and change of any kind requires an investment of time and energy.

You must put in work to make a real transformation.  Intense and sometimes mentally tiring and/or emotionally taxing work.

There may be times when your advancement seems so slight as to practically be negligible, but forward is forward.  Even when it appears to be at a glacial pace.

The fact remains, however:  you have to do more than simply long for a shift in your circumstances; you must take consistent action to alter your own trajectory.

Change isn’t reliably delivered by chance.

Should you ever find that you are are somehow ‘stuck’ in your current reality and the evolved vision of the most incredible version of your life eludes you, consider avoiding these behaviors as exhibited by those who are committed to maintaining the status quo.

1.  Create perfection before you start.  If you wait until everything is absolutely flawless before you take action, you’ll be waiting for a long, long, long time.  Progress, rather than perfection is the ultimate goal and you’ll learn so much by doing something — anything — in lieu of staying put.

2.  Avoid failure.  Risks don’t always yield rewards, but you can learn something from every endeavor.  Embrace new, daring and different opportunities with a focus on enjoying the journey instead of always being married to success as the only (or most important) destination.  Your personal growth will be supported by every experience regardless of the final results.

3.  Surround yourself with complacent people.  Energy is contagious, but so is lethargy.  Keep the company of motivated, optimistic people who explore all of their possibilities and look for the chance to learn lessons that will make them better in all respects.

4.  Allow negative thoughts to derail you.  Everyone deals with fear, self-doubt and anxiety in some form.  The key, however, is to keep moving forward in the face of uncertainty.  Few people truly forge ahead in life completely unafraid, but rather they choose to keep going in spite of fear.  That incessant inner voice (also known as Monkey Mind) that warns, chides and even pleads is ultimately only trying to protect you when you approach the cusp of something different – so smile, nod and keep going anyway.

5.  Use hope as your sole strategy.  Hope is a beautiful thing indeed, but it is a necessary yet insufficient part of the equation for living a meaningful, fruitful life.  Commit to doing, even when you are unsure as execution is a requisite part of transforming ideas into reality and gaining clarity.

Remember that your actions don’t need to be massive to result in change.  Even the most incremental of steps can move you ahead.

Engineer Your Bliss Challenge:  Take purposeful action to avoid the status quo today.

What could you gain by intentionally breaking free from business as usual? Let me know your thoughts on Facebook.