I came across the picture and quote below today. Is it time to pull the trigger on some change action you’ve been thinking about and/or discussing? The truth is that there is no amount of discussion, thought or planning that will guarantee what you want. The only way to find out how it ends, is to start down the path.
Progress
Even falling forward, flat on your face is forward movement. So often out of fear of failure we do not move at all. When the mountain seems to big before us it is at times a challenge to see how we will even start the journey. As the saying goes, eat the elephant one bite at a time. Forward movement is forward movement. If you moved even an inch forward a day, you are still ahead of those frozen in place. Who cares if your progress is not perfect. Progress is progress and beats being stuck in place! Just starting builds momentum. Action triggers more action and with each new step you will find your goal getting closer.
Yes, Yes, You are a genius
It is excellent when people speak and write brilliantly, and even not brilliantly about growth, betterment, self-awareness, self-improvement, etc. There is a value to reading and listening to their stuff. Ahh, the question becomes, “What are their actions?” Hello rubber, meet the road. I will preface the following with the words ‘the line is always moving,’ but also with the thought, ‘so what you should be too.’ Ask yourself today, when is it enough? This is a judgement only you can make on your own life. It is yours after all so live it at whatever level you desire. My cautionary advice to you is this… Are you living what you are speaking/writing? Would someone who doesn’t know you read your stuff, or listen to you, ask you to mentor them and then be…1) deeply grateful and gratified, or 2) horrified and/or deeply disappointed? Dear overachiever(s), this applies to you as well.
Are You The Problem Or The Solution?
Right now there is a huge amount of talk about the actions, or perhaps inaction, of our elected officials regarding our national debt and what to do about it and the budget. Lots of talk, lots of chatter, lots of complaining about the situation. Question, where is the action piece? Whether it is government, family, friends, work, or whatever you want to throw in the mix has merely complaining about an issue ever been the magic bullet needed to change it? No, no it has not. If you want to complain about your government, your family, spouse, friend, boss, co-worker…you best be able to back your complaining with actionable solutions. Otherwise all you have is whining and loser talk. It is doubtful that is what you want to be known for in any situation.
The Cost Of Failing To Act
Have you ever found yourself hesitant about making a decision and/or taking action on an item, a plan, or even something you are thinking of saying to someone? Of course you have. It is called discernment and it is an excellent tool to utilize. However, there is a huge difference between discernment and failure to launch. Discernment is the ability to implement the use of your keen insight, make a judgement and move forward with it. If there is no moving forward, why waste your time in discernment or evaluation? We so often get caught up in worrying or debating the cost, mental, financial or physical, of a decision that we forget to calculate the cost of both failure to act and/or delay in action. Missed opportunity is HUGE cost wise! Is moving forward and action easy? Not always and I get that. I over scheduled myself this week, am planning a major life change, including a move, under a fairly short timeline. Did I wake up with a stomach ache this morning feeling overwhelmed? Yes. Did I use discernment to help kick my butt into high gear to tackle it all? Yes again. Because the cost of not doing it (and not doing something is always an option) is much higher than getting on with it.
Where Is Your Focus?
Where is your focus? Present, past, current moment or future? There are two elements that without, you will not move forward…focus and action. So where is your focus? There is a very fine line when it comes to focus that can trip us up. It is this: Are you focused on yourself or are you focused on ‘the plan’? One will lead to action. The other will lead to delay and possibly excuses. Now there is nothing wrong with taking care of yourself and finding the right path. There is however a propensity to use the taking care piece as an excuse not to develop and plan and not to focus on putting it in to action. The challenge is being honest enough with yourself to admit where you are and what your true intent is. So many things in the name of ‘self improvement’ can become crutches and ways of putting off the discipline and work that are necessary to get where you need to go to be the person you want to be. It is so easy to put off action and procrastinate in the name of more investigation. Procrastination is just failure on an installment plan. Do not put yourself in that position.
Magic Bullet
Feeling down? Feeling misunderstood? I have been so I know of what I speak. Hopefully it will save you some time and trouble. There are no magic bullets, no magic beans or magic pills. There is hard work, determination, frustration, reward and above all action. There are amazing tools you can use, but be cautious not to look to any tool as a source of resolving and/or justifying where you are and where you will go to next. In the end, we have all the answers we need within ourselves. There are people, friends, tools, etc. that can help us bounce our ideas around and move them forward; however, if you find yourself enchanted with anything outside of yourself do yourself a favor and ask the following questions: 1) Is this speaking to me because it is what I want to hear, or because it is true (maybe both)? 2) Is this speaking to me because it excuses my unproductive or bad behavior? 3) Is following this line of thought, reading this book, watching this DVD, etc. an excuse to not do the work? Or is it facilitating it? 4) Am I burning hours on shoring up my philosophies rather than working them? 5) Are my philosophies really philosophies or excuses? 6) Why am I in need of finding justification(s) to what I know is right for me? 7) Am I wasting energy ‘exploring’ when I could be implementing hands on learning? “Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” ~ Mark Victor Hansen
Dancing Forward When Others Are Marching
Expecting your thoughts, words and deeds to change the world is excellent. It is even better if you have the fortitude to continue dancing forward with this notion when everyone else is marching. Last week a friend shared she was explaining and conversing with her daughter regarding an action her daughter was not embracing as it did not make sense. This in a nut shell my friends is the world we live in. We do not always understand, or even if we do understand, want to embrace that we are all not like-minded individuals. This is a good thing and lead to all kinds of progress, combinations and collaborations. On the converse it can also lead to frustration and pain. During times of transition so often we wish to find that one true line of thought or action(s) that will make it all better. If they are easy thoughts/actions all the better! But here is the thing, like Seth Godin wrote easy and certain are usually not a package deal. And where it really gets tricky is when what you believe does not mesh with the environmental culture which surrounds you. The answer is not to dig in and hold your belief(s) tighter, blocking out everyone else’s as that is akin to following Peter Pan’s advice, “Forget them all. Come with me where you’ll never, never have to worry about grown up things again.” The answer is, at least partially, operating with your beliefs in a world that my not know what the hell you are thinking or talking about. It is about creating a balance in between staying true to yourself in an environment that you may need to adjust to so they can embrace you as well. I am not talking self-compromise. I am talking about being strong enough in your core belief that you do not have to worry about justifying it or putting it in everyone’s face everyday. Creating that balance is the only way you will ever get buy in and get people on the bus. I think I am being generous when I say people do not always embrace what they do not understand. If you feel you have come across a better way, know two things…1) Force is NOT conducive to permanent change (nor is taunting or demeaning), 2) If you don’t package what you believe with some form of others’ current comfort you will stand alone, which is sometimes absolutely fine. However if you feel others could benefit and grow from what you know to be true, inclusion through some level of (their) self-identification is the only outreach tool you have.