What Stops You From Taking Action?

Three little birds perched on a stump

One decides to fly away

How many birds left on the stump?

Whats your answer….did you say two?

The answer is three…..the little bird only decided to fly –  HE DIDN’T TAKE ACTION

What stops you from taking action?

Do you wait till you have enough knowledge?

Do you wait till the time is just right?

Or till you have enough money…or time…. or till your circumstances change?

These are all excuses we use to avoid making decisions to avoid taking action.

Unfortunately we will never achieve the results we desire or dream of if we avoid taking action

So what can we learn from Mr Bird? How do we go from making a decision –  to moving forward and taking action – to “doing”

The following seven steps will help you move forward – from thinking –  to taking action…

Step 1   Stop believing you have to be perfect to start to take action

You don’t need to know everything in order to start. When you take action and start doing your knowledge increases and your skills are enhanced. Have you ever considered how much learning a small child has ahead of them, yet they step out in their imperfection and learn along the way. It’s the same for us – once we start, our skills are enhanced and our knowledge increases. So whatever idea,  dream or new venture is niggling away at you,(apk) now is the time to trust your instincts and take flight.  You’ll be amazed at the people  and resources you will attract into your life to support your efforts once you take consistent action!

Step 2   Stop waiting for the right time to take action

As Napoleon Hill says the time will never be just right but that is no excuse not to take action. There never will be a perfect time  – yesterday is gone , tomorrow has not arrived so we only have the present (which is what is is!) – today. So seize the moment , stop procrastinating and take action. If you find yourself making this excuse a lot,  it could indicate that you simply don’t value your time. Or perhaps  you really don’t want do what you feel you must do in order to achieve your desired outcome. A good question to ask yourself in this case might be “How badly do I really want this?”

Step 3   Don’t let the Distractions Derail You

Life happens! Circumstances will always crop up and interrupt us.   It’s how we cope with those interruptions that matter. Will you remain on tract and stay focused with your action or will you use them as an excuse to say ” I’ll finish it tomorrow” We all live busy lives and cram hectic schedules into our busy days. However, one way to cope with all this is to focus on your task, avoiding the temptations around you. It is not hard to notice people everywhere facing this challenge – on their mobiles with social media constantly vying for their attention. But in order to achieve the desired outcome we need to remain focused and take consistent persistent action.

Step 4   Take action to overcome your fear

Many people delay or even refuse to take action because of fear. Fear of failure –fear of ridicule,  even fear of success! So often much of that fear is just in our mind, it’s what we think might happen if we do something. The best way to overcome this is to face the fear and do it anyway – it is usually never as bad as we thought it would be and once we take action we feel much better and more empowered to keep going. Fear can paralyze us, but the antidote is any form of action. The best time to start is right now!

Step 5   Too much overthinking prevents you taking action

Ever get paralysis of analysis from over thinking to the point where you can’t take action and move forward. We come up with a million reasons why we can’t do something and begin to justify it to ourselves to the point where we start to believe it. When you notice yourself doing this, its time to stop thinking about it and go do something else. Often this will bring clarity to the situation so that we can then mover forward and take action.

Step 6   Become aware of your language

Are you a “gunna?”  You’re gunna take the dog for a walk ….but two hours later you’re still on the couch watching the movie.  Or have you ever said, I must start going to the gym, but a month later you’re still driving past the gym thinking the same thing. You have to stop thinking and take action for things to change. So next time you have a thought like that,  take some action immediately – grab the phone and ring the gym, or grab the leash and the dog and head out the door. Each time we procrastinate, we make it harder to take action the next time we have the thought, and over time we gradually loose the incentive and the desire.

Step 7   Reward yourself with your progress once you take action

Okay so you’ve made a start – the important thing now is to keep building the habit and not let yourself slip back into your former pattern. Just make the commitment to spend a small amount of time each day establishing your new regime and at the end of the week or fortnight reward yourself with a treat. It takes on average 21 days to form a new habit so keep strong in this time and keep taking action and you will make great progress in moving forward. Well done!

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