Welcome back to the Secret-bustin’ series that treats the Law of Attraction like one big ol’ magic genie pinata. Catch up on all the posts here.

The age-old First Law of Action (coined just a few weeks ago) states that A refined outcome is easier to achieve. Simple enough to agree with – you get specific on what you want (and what you don’t want), and the path you need to take to get there becomes clearer.   Nice and simple.  You don’t have to be a quantum physicist to figure that one out.

Now, let’s take a look at the Second Law of Action, handed down through the centuries penned as I sipped my evening rum & Coke:  Everyday Accountability Gives You Ten Times The Results. Again, not rocket science … but seldom put into practice.

When You Decide To Act Everyday, Everything Changes

The reason why we don’t get what we want has less to do with how talented we are and a whole lot more to do with how consistent we are with action. Whether you’re building a blog, developing a new habit, or punching your way out of a living grave (thanks, Sonia), taking focused, non-stop action on a daily basis speeds up your results tenfold.

The reasons for this are many:

• When you hold yourself to taking action on something everyday, your whole psychology undergoes a shift.  You’re essentially telling yourself “I’m serious about this,” and you devote more of your focus to making yourself work.

• When you decide to take daily action on a project, you pretty much have to sit down and make a plan of what to do next, and next, and next, and next … and instead of taking random action, you tend to make more of a strategic plan.  No futzing around anymore.

• When you tackle the same goal day after day, you start to become more sensitive to understanding the results you’re getting.  You get better at discerning what type of actions have a bigger payoff than others, and when your current strategy isn’t working.

• When you make taking action a daily habit, you quickly develop a sense of dissatisfaction for taking any action that doesn’t give you really good results.  You stop fooling around and start getting serious.

• When you take action more frequently, you refine your strategy faster.  As you get into the thick of a project, you start seeing ways that you could reach your goals more effectively because you’re immersed in it and you’re seeing results you can measure.

For all these reasons – and many more, which I’m sure you’ll talk about in the comments – holding yourself accountable to take action everyday on a goal moves you from a leisurely stroll to a marathoner’s pace (and sometimes to a hard sprint).  In fact, it’s clinically proven* that getting serious helps you make progress ten times faster.

(* According to a study where imaginary researchers come up with nice round numbers to support my points).

How To Tap Into The Power Of Everyday Accountability

If there’s something you say you’re serious about that you just aren’t making progress on, it’s time to make the shift to everyday accountability.  The process is simple:

• Refine your goal into a measurable outcome, such as “10% increase in traffic,” “100 new subscribers,” or “15 hours of studying copywriting per month.”

• Schedule time in every day to take action, because if you don’t schedule it, you won’t do it.  If you’ve got a daily schedule that varies, just schedule 1 or 2 days ahead at all times and you’ll be fine.

• Every day, ask yourself the Big Question, “What did I do to make progress on this goal?”  This accountability question alone will speed up the process more than anything else, because it forces you to evaluate how much progress you’re making.  You can’t be complacent when facing this question.

Don’t Let Time Pass Without Taking Action

New Year’s Resolutions fail because you check in on them once a year.  Most “30 day goals” fail because people don’t check in on them until a few weeks have passed.  If you check in on yourself daily, and you get honest with your answer to the Big Question, you’ll be amazed at just how quickly you make things happen.

Everyday accountability –> Everyday Progress –> WIN.

3 Things You Can Do Now To Make This Message Stick

• Leave a comment below and join the discussion,
• Subscribe to this blog and catch the entire Laws of Action series, and
• Link to this article and spread the word.

• Pollyanna On Ecstasy: Why Positive Thinking Just Doesn’t Work
• Why The Law Of Attraction Seems To Work … Sometimes

Now on to our regularly scheduled (de)programming.

The Laws Of Action:  What They Are All About

I recently described the age-old “Law of Action” (which I made up off the top of my head) as this:

To have more of what you want in life, you have to get clear on what you want, get emotionally invested in achieving it, act from a position of certainty, and keep yourself from self-sabotage.

That’s a mouthful, so I think I’ll start breaking it down into some smaller points which I’ll call the “Laws of Action.”  And when I say “Law,” I’m being a little bit facetious as very few things are actually universal laws.  But it seems a good antidote to the mainstream version of the Law of Attraction (the one that’s all about magic and not about action at all).

So let’s break the big law up into some nuggets that you can use right freaking now.  First up:

The First Law Of Action: A Refined Outcome Is Easier To Achieve

This is the First Law of Action because this is the one that most people miss, because they use fuzzy words like “more,” “better,” “happier.” The problem is, words like that don’t drive you to action because they are fuzzy.  And fuzzy don’t pay the bills.  If your outcome is fuzzy – like “I want to make more money” or “I want to lose weight,” then that’s not going to drive you to do specific things – the action part.

Tony Robbins had this funny trick he’d do in seminars.  Basically he’d ask someone, “Would having more money make you happier?”  Naturally, the person would say “Yeah!” and smile.  Then Tony would toss the guy a quarter and say “There.  You have more money.  Are you happier?”  Of course, the person would shake his head “no.”  Tony would shrug at the guy and say “Maybe you should start being more specific about what you want so you can start being happier.”

A Quarter Just Doesn’t Cut It

Whether you’re a Robbins’ fan or foe, he’s nailed this point.  Fuzzy goals create fuzzy, unfocused action.  I used to want to “make money” online.  For a few years I did make money, in fits and starts.  It sucked.  Then I decided to get very specific about what I wanted.  In February I started an experiment called the Freelance Smackdown where I took Christine O’Kelly’s freelancing book and put it to the test to get a specific result: $1000 – $2000 in 30 days doing nothing but freelance writing.

Because I got specific, I nailed it. And every month thereafter, I set specific goals for my freelance writing and nailed them, too.  Not because I’m magical, or I’m so fantastic, but because I got specific.  Instead of trying every strategy in the world, I tried specific things – and more importantly, I stopped pursuing other strategies – and the focus paid off.  Focus is key, because it helps you make distinctions about whether you’re taking the right actions to meet your specific results.  (Harry understands this.)

Here’s What You Need To Do

If you’re not getting what you want out of your goals, ask yourself whether you’ve refined it enough to take specific action.  Is your goal to “lose weight” or have you refined it to “exercise 30 minutes, 3 times a week?”  Or better yet, “Yoga on Mondays, jogging on Wednesdays, hiking on Fridays?”  Fuzzy goals leave you wondering about which way to go to achieve your goals.  By getting specific about the “what” and “how” parts of your goals, you are increasing the chance of taking relevant action.

So Start Typing And Put The First Law Into Action, Dammit

In the next 60 seconds, before you go onto another blog post, before you check your email, or twitter, or whatever, take a look at that big goal you have – the one that you want to make faster progress on – and begin refining it like this:

• “I want more blog subscribers” -> “I want to add 100 subscribers in the next 60 days.”
• “I want to make more money” -> “I want to make $5,000 in sales before Christmas”
• “I want to lose weight” -> “I want to phase soda out of my diet in 30 days.”

Then post it in the comments.  The more you refine it, the higher your chance of getting off your ass and doing it.

If You Need Help, Ask For It

Not sure how to get more specific about your goals, put your current goal in the comments and I (and maybe my awesome readers) will help you out.   And when you’re done, subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss the upcoming Laws of Action.  Now get to it.  *whipcrack*