Whatever you want to do take action

I’ve worked with many people and many different organizations.  I noticed that most people seem to fall on a continuum between being too rash and being too afraid to act. 

Not many fell on the extremes of those two, instead most people would tend to lean more towards not taking action or more towards taking action before thinking things through. 

So I can make an assumption that you are probably very similar.  You are probably not so extreme that you always act compulsively.  You are probably not so extreme that you are constantly afraid to do anything.  Since almost everyone falls somewhere between the two, you probably find yourself paralyzed by analysis at times and other times wishing you did a little more due diligence before jumping into something. 

The goal isn’t to be one extreme or the other but you make sure that you are making progress towards your goals.  Making progress means that you have to be taking action.  Without action, you will never reach a single goal. 

So the next time you set a goal and decide to chase a dream, make sure you are planning and strategizing and then jump right in.  It will never be a perfect plan because we don’t know what obstacles we will face, until they surface. 

If you talk yourself out of it before you take a step, then you will never be able to reach beyond where you are today.  You have to be willing to say that things have to change in order to improve. 

The systems and habits approach to improvement takes this into account.  The reason why this approach focuses so much on taking small steps is that you will need to be adjusting as you go. 

This way, you won’t over-strategize at the beginning before getting started.  You will put enough thought together to be able to start taking steps and making progress.   

This will give you the energy needed to make sure you don’t talk yourself out of it.  But it will be a slow start so you can make sure to do the due diligence before you get too far in. 

Norman Vincent Peale has a quote that touches on the importance of taking action.  He says, “Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence.  Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear.  Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow.  But any action is better than no action at all.”

As you start to build new systems and habits in your life, make sure that you are continuously taking action.  This will build confidence and help guide your decisions as you chase down your dreams.  It will allow you to learn as you work, instead of expecting to know everything up front and then doing the work.