Ready, Able, and Willing

Throughout your day you’ve probably said to yourself at least once to 100 times “I want (need) to do [fill in the blank].” Then the following day you find yourself repeating many of the same things. So how do you take these thoughts about what you want to do and turn them into actual goals to work on and accomplish?

Well, let’s look at the acronym, RAW, it stands for Ready, Able, and Willing. In order for us to move forward in accomplishing something we must check the boxes for all 3 of these areas. If we don’t, we can’t move forward. Then we have to dig a little deeper to determine why we are stuck on one or more areas. So, let’s take a look at each one and see if you are able to say yes in order to accomplish the goals set before you.

For the sake of this post say you want to sign up for a half marathon.

Ready

Are you ready? Are you prepared? Do you know what it takes to accomplish what you are set out to do? Maybe you’ve been thinking about signing up for a half marathon for a while now and you feel like now, you want to do it. You’ll want to be prepared, find out the details and what you need to participate in the marathon. You do the research, find out where and when it’s taking place. You get the shoes you need, you message your friend to join you, and you put it on your calendar, you’re ready!

Able

Are you able to do it? Are you physically able? Are you mentally able? Financially, etc… So, the marathon is on the calendar, but you’ve never run a 5k before. Are you in the physical shape to accomplish a half marathon? Then you remember you have a tendon that flares up in your foot if you’re on it too long. Darn it! You’re not able to run as much as you thought!! You’re not able to run the marathon.

Willing

Are you willing? Do you really want to do it? Do you have some doubts? Maybe you’re not as confident as you thought you were when you first started out. How can you find confidence? What gives you motivation? Just when you think maybe you’re going to back out of the marathon, your friend who you invited to join you messages you and encourages you to not let your foot hold you back! You’re willing!

In order to move forward, we must be able to say yes to all 3 of these areas. We can be ready and able, but if we aren’t willing, we probably aren’t going to do it. We can be able and willing, but if we aren’t ready, it’s going to be difficult to get going on it. Or like the scenario, we may be ready and willing, but if you aren’t able, it’s not going to happen as you’d like.

But don’t fret! It’s ok if you’re not able to check all the boxes. It gives you the opportunity to assess the situation and discover what your obstacles are so then you can create action steps in order to find your way to be RAW. And even then, you may find along the way you may need to create more action steps and find some accountability. Just keep plugging along and you will find you’ve made your way!

Are you RAW?