Are You Doing The Work?

Are you doing the work that's moving you towards your goals? So often in our personal development journey, we lose sight of creating in the face of constant consumerism...

You’ve got big dreams.
You’ve set your goals.
You’ve made your vision board.
You’ve prayed to God or the Universe.
You’ve looked in the mirror and said “I am unstoppable” 100 times.
You’ve read all the books, and listened to all the podcasts, and watched all the videos.

But are you doing the work?

So often in our personal development journey, we lose sight of creating in the face of constant consumerism. In a world of social media, podcasts, thousands of Youtube videos that are created by others to inspire us, to motivate us, to educate us – it can be SO easy to constantly consume information 24/7. However, when it comes to reaching the highest, and stepping into the happiest, healthiest version of yourself – it comes down to the simple act of doing the work. 


Or as I like to phrase it – creating before consuming. 


Education, research and being a part of the online community is a huge part of my daily workflow. I love to watch someone’s positive vlogs, double tap their Instagram feed, buy their book and read it with a cup of tea. I am all about making personal development a daily practice. But with learning must come action. 

What areas of your personal development are you getting too caught up in consuming information, and never moving into creation?

Are you downloading all the meditation apps, but only using them once and then forgetting all about them?
Are you buying self development books, reading them once and putting them away, without taking notes or implementing the knowledge that you’ve gained? 
Are you watching inspiring Ted Talks or Vlogs of people who’s life you admire on Youtube, but not journalling or planning out how you can use their story to change your own life? 

Knowing and not doing, is just the same as not knowing.

AKA – knowledge, empowerment and education is useless if you’re not doing the work as a result of those things in your everyday life. Are you taking the action needed to take the next step in your journey? Are you taking a moment to reflect on what you’ve learnt in the past week, in the past day – and planning ahead to how you’re going to implement that information in your life? 


If you feel like you spend way more time absorbing new knowledge, and not enough time putting it into practice, then you’re in the right place! 


I’ve been there, and I wanted to share 3 ways you can get out of that consumerism mentality when it comes to personal development. 

Create before you consume

A simple and easy way to remember this whole ethos of doing the work. Prioritise creation over consumerism in your life, in small and big ways. Make sure you are creating something in your day, before you begin to consume information that others have created. The easiest, most enjoyable and sustainable way for me to do this is my morning routine. I always make time for meditation, quiet reflection and writing in the morning, because I know there won’t be another point of my day that is as quiet and peaceful!

Creating something first thing in the morning, when the world is still asleep and I’m alone with my thoughts, means my intuition is guiding my creativity, which always brings about my best work. When I get to work after that, I am present, creatively stimulated, calmer, centred in my purpose and feel a connection to the world that steers my day in a positive direction – and as a bonus, means I am way more switched on when it does come to learning, research and consuming other’s content. 

Prioritise the big wins

So often we fill our to do list out with standard, easy to accomplish tasks, just to pad out the day so we can be assured we’re ‘busy’ enough. I’m guilty of it too! 

One thing I try to do every day when I come to write my to do list, is include just 1 or 2 tasks that are non-urgent but will absolutely move me further towards my goal. They’re usually the tasks that we procrastinate on, that get pushed to the bottom of the pile in favour of the ‘here and now this needs to get done’ tasks. But they’re usually the most meaningful tasks when it comes to moving the needle for our goals and higher purpose. 

It’s likely something that’s gonna challenge you, like contacting someone important, working on a new project for 30 minutes, heading to a new workout class alone, giving yourself 10 minutes to meditate, asking your community for help or putting it out there in the world the exciting things you’re up to. You’ve been thinking you should do it for ages, but procrastination takes over in the face of fear. 

e.g. Today I went to the gym to train first thing, because I’ve wanted to get back in that routine for a while. My lifetime goal is to honour my body and put my health and wellbeing first. I had to prioritise loving my body with exercise and creating physical and emotional change in myself, over the instant gratification of getting straight to work first thing. 

Create your day before it’s happened

Are you consciously creating your life? Are you deliberately making choices based on what you want your life to look like a month, a year, 5 years from now? If not, why?!

In order to make your dreams a reality, you have to create that reality in the present moment. To do this, you have to live ‘on purpose’ and consciously create your day before it’s even here. The most practical way I like to do this is the good ol’ to do list. My to do list gets written the night before – I’m quite literally designing my day before it’s happened. 

In designing my day, I get to decide: 

– My morning routine
– What work I’m doing and when
– What goals I’m moving towards
– What exercise I do and when
– How many breaks I have and when
– Who I get to meet and see

And ultimately, I get to decide how I’m going to feel. Most days, I decide to feel rested, healthy, productive, focused, present and purposeful. Other more spiritual ways people like to create their day might be prayer, meditation or visualisation – but see what works for you.

Do the work and go smash it today! 

Love, Kat x

PS – If you want a positive, uplifting message just like this one in your inbox every Monday morning, join our email community! It’s free to sign up and you’ll receive a copy of my 5 Day Self Care Starter Kit when you sign up! 

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