HOW TO TAKE ACTION

EPISODE #142

In this week’s episode we’re chatting about:

• The difference between those who take action and those who don’t
• How to identify what exactly it is that is keeping you from taking action and following through on what you say you want to do; 17 ways that might be hindering you from being the actin-taker you want to be
• 15 benefits of being an action-taker

Do you want to distinguish yourself this year? All you have to do is to do something small – take action on something that will move the needle forward and in the right direction for you – every single day.

Infuse your life with action. Don’t wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen…yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.

– Bradley Whitford

Action is the foundational key to all success.

–Pablo Picasso

Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you.

-Thomas Jefferson

Information isn’t what’s scarce – the ability to do something with it is.

HOW TO IDENTIFY WHAT’S KEEPING YOU FROM ACTION:

People don’t take action because of a variety of reasons:

1. Being too busy keeping self busy rather than living life the way you wish to live it out (confusing the difference between being productive and being busy)
2. Over-analyzing the past (allowing mistakes you’ve made in the past, or falsities people told you about yourself limit you from being a new person now and in the future)
3. Over-analyzing the future or the steps needing to be taken (getting lost in the fog instead of understanding that the fog is part of the process)
4. No true accountability (no system in place to ensure action)
5. Lack of desire for real change (you say you want change but you really don’t)
6. Keeping your goals and desires to yourself
7. Taking everything you do too seriously – overthinking what needs to be done and what taking action will actually look like because you take it too seriously and expect perfection
8. Perfectionistic thinking (or waiting for perfect circumstances)
9. Lazy, procrastination thinking (or waiting for “when you feel like it”…guess what, often, on the things we need to take action on, we will never “feel” like it!)
10. Feelings of unworthiness (inadequacies that resign us to slump down and make ourselves small in life)
11. Over-thinking and over-considering the possible hurdles that lay ahead instead of trusting in your ability to surmount those hurdles when they come (self-efficacy and confidence in personal resilience and adaptability)
12. A what-if mentality
13. Lack of true vision – not taking the time to have clarity about what your goal actually is and what you want your life to look like (it’s hard to have enthusiasm to take action when you can’t even envision what it is you are making the effort to take action towards)
14. Unbelief in your ability to change or to do something great
15. Sticking to what is comfortable and the status quo
16. Fear of change
17. Absence of basic and effective system to create “action” as a way of daily life

15 BENEFITS OF BEING AN ACTION TAKER:

1. You become someone true to your word
2. You feel more at peace and congruent in who you are because you know you will do what you say and intend you will do
3. You achieve your goals with more ease
4. You become more confident in what is possible for you in life
5. You get to avoid the trap of procrastination
6. You end up having way more real free time
7. You are more trusted by others
8. You trust yourself
9. Your belief in yourself and your ability to leave a legacy that matters is increased
10. You aren’t as afraid to do what intimidates you because you just do it without overthinking it and without letting it linger on your to-do list
11. You become free from the feeling of prolonged dread that often comes from putting off taking action on doing the things we don’t want to do
12. You can make plans for your future and really start to paint your life … while you can’t always control the circumstances of what your life will look like, you can always control the way you experience life and you can master the art of living beautifully.
13. You will build enthusiasm about life – and your enthusiasm will translate into joy for life and it will become contagious to others
14. You learn to have patience in navigating the fog – knowing that you don’t always have to know what all the steps are and that you can live day-by-day, trusting that God will direct your path. You can learn to let God be God and let His peace He offers to you be something you really abide in.
15. You can inspire others to follow their dreams and goals and to become action takers themselves.

A few things, as a natural action-taker, I like to tell others:

• You won’t always “feel like it” and that’s okay. Do it anyways.
• The first 2 minutes of taking action is always the hardest. Push past that and it will get easier.
• The more you take action the easier and more natural taking action will become.
• Action always comes with a reward. You’ll feel proud of yourself, you’ll get a natural high and you’ll be inspired to take action on a few more things. It’s addicting in its own way.
• You’ll never regret taking action; you’ll always regret procrastinating.
• Anyone can become an action-taker. It’s a state-of-mind and dependent upon a mentality of organizing your life to do it.
• Do one thing every day that scares you. Also, do one thing every day that you don’t want to do.
• Eat the frog; do the thing you most dread first and just get it done.
• Re-identify yourself as an “action-taker.” Make it part of your identity and part of the characteristic terms you prescribe to yourself.
• Get an accountability partner, buddy or coach. Set up rewards and consequences.

LISTENER OF THE EPISODE:

Trish,

Listening to episode number 138 something struck me. Jessica Vaughn was talking about workouts as worship, how they are a form of obedience. I stuggle with obedience in every from from God to my marriage to my work. I’m just a ‘lil rebel! Have you done or can you do an episode on obedience?

-Mina Gray