Dream, Strategize, Action!

Having a vision is great, taking time to dream and putting your goals on paper is essential. But all this will have no value if you do not take action.  Action is what allows you to live in the reality of who you want to become. There is no growth without taking action. Surprisingly taking action is one of the hardest things for most people, that is why it separates winners from non-winners, high achievers from everyday people. People seem to be more interested in collecting ideas than actually doing something with them. Think about it, If you followed through on every idea, that came through your mind in the past 5years, where would you have been today. Many would-be running successful businesses, some would have left the toxic relationships and probably living in their dream house.

Fear is one of the reasons that keep us from taking action. Fear of failure or the fear of success. You should change how you view failure. If an idea fails it does not mean that you are a failure, it’s just a learning process. If you are afraid of the change that success will bring, remember whether you take a step or not, change is always a constant in life. Everything in life that is hard is just a series of things that are easy, you have to take action towards the first step. Here is a quote I once read, ” the universe rewards action, not thought”. Even the bible makes it clear that faith without works ( taking action) is dead. Good Intentions are nothing unless acted upon. Another thing that can be hindering you from taking action is overthinking. You can only spend so much time on planning. It’s important not to get stuck in the analyzing, planning, and organizing stages. Take Action. Develop a just do it culture. Action is a muscle you have to exercise. When you take small actions frequently it will be easy to take action towards your big dreams.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step – Chinese proverb

Mel Robbins’ 5-second rule can help you develop your action muscle. The rule states that ” If you have an instinct to act on a goal, you must physically move within  5 seconds or your brain will kill it”. She goes on to say that there is always a window period that exists between the moment you have an instinct to change and your mind killing it. The instinct in this case is an action step or idea that comes to your mind and needs to be acted on. And the window period is 5 seconds. So do something within the 5 seconds of receiving your idea. It could be something like writing in your journal or setting up an appointment. You are never going to feel like it so just do it and don’t wait for the right time.

Here is a short story on taking action

A man was walking through a forest when he saw a crippled fox. “I wonder how it manages to feed itself?” He thought. At that moment, a tiger approached, carrying its prey in its mouth. The tiger ate its fill and left what remained for the fox.

“If God helps the fox, he will help me too,”  The man thought. He went back home, shut himself up in his house, and waited for the Heavens to bring him food. Nothing happened. He lay there in bed waiting for God to provide for him as he had for the fox, but instead just starved.

Just when he was becoming almost too weak to go out and work, an angel appeared.“Why did you decide to imitate the crippled fox?” asked the angel. “God has given you gifts and abilities to contribute to the world and make a living while looking after the crippled foxes of the world.  Get out of bed, pick up your tools and follow the way of the tiger!”

I only have one question today.  Which one are you, the fox or the tiger? Are you going to take action to move you towards your big dreams or you will imitate the man and wait for God to provide? Do the ordinary and God will do extraordinary.

tanyafungai