ACTION PLAN
THE RESILIENCY REVOLUTION ACTION PLAN
Use this template to start your personal rEvolution. This is your blueprint for building resiliency and will help you implement the tools and ideas you learned while reading The Resiliency rEvolution. You will find this plan is a blend of utilizing both Sneaky Pete and your advanced brain.
Goal Statement
My resiliency training goal is: ________________________________________
Action Steps
Step 1: To ensure you’re committing to the right resiliency training goal, ask yourself, “What’s truly important to me right now, and in what ways do I feel ready to change? How do I want to take better care of myself?” Then ask yourself the “Five Whys”: Ask yourself why your goal is important to you. When you get that answer, ask yourself why that answer matters. Do this at least five times until you have reached an answer connected to your values. (See page 275 in the paperback for an example.)
Step 2: Identify one simple, clear, practical, and very small action step—one immediately doable step—written in positive form.
Action step:
What obstacles do you know you will encounter? What are your backup action steps?
Obstacles:
Back up action steps:
Step 3: Ask yourself, “How confident am I that I can do this task consistently?” Rate it on a scale of one to ten. Keep simplifying it until you rate your confidence a nine or a ten.
Confidence rating:
Step 4: Put it on your calendar. Plan the exact date, time, and place you will perform the new activity. Keep track of your actions with your accountability system. Schedule a progress check-in four weeks from your start date.
Step 5: Now it’s time to focus on Sneaky Pete and your unconscious mind as you create your system of optimal defaults. Come up with a few for each environment as it pertains to your goal. For examples of optimal defaults, see appendix B in the book or view the Optimal Defaults list.
Optimal defaults at home:
Optimal defaults at work:
Optimal defaults for exercise:
Optimal defaults for eating at home:
Optimal defaults while eating out:
Optimal defaults while traveling:
Optimal defaults while food shopping:
Step 6: Write about your success each time you perform the new behavior, at least for the first few weeks. Make the dopamine connection. When you write, answer the questions, “How do I feel physically as well as psychologically after taking my action step? How is this going to benefit me in the long run?” Emphasize the process instead of the outcome.
Four-Week Check-In
- Ask yourself, “Has the new behavior become an automatic habit?”
- If yes, commit to a new goal and complete a new action plan.
- If no, give yourself more time with the behavior and/or consider the tips below.
Things to Remember
- Self-forgiveness breaks the “what the hell” effect and gets you back on track. Don’t beat yourself up if you slip.
- Create triggers that remind you to practice your new activity.
- You can always do something, and something is always better than nothing.
- Find and use your tribe to support you. Or lose your tribe if they have habits not in alignment with your goals.
- There is no wagon.
- Be realistic.
- Go back and simplify your action steps if you need to.
- Reassess your optimal defaults.
