I had two experiences this week that highlighted for me the differences between those who do, and those who do not.
The first was my mentee Rain Bennett – we’ve been working together for a while now and he’s continuing to plug away at the plan we developed in Kansas City, MO a couple of months back. I wrote about it that weekend here.
We left Kansas City with a plan and motivation to make something happen. I knew Rain was a man of action when in the middle of our weekend, after a full day of intense work, he kept working and reported back that night on his acquisition of the website name we picked. It is this type of immediate action that makes for a successful and empowered entrepreneur.
Decision making is important, but action taking is crucial. It’s like the question my coach used to asked me as a young wrestler, “David, three frogs are sitting on the riverbed, one decides to go swimming. How many are left?” “Two?”, “No, three. A decision is just a decision, it’s only when action is taken that something happens.”
Rain and I were speaking this week about the Deeper Dive Weekend we’ve been planning. Finally we just picked a weekend and committed to it. The Deeper Dive Weekend is the second phase of the work he’s doing. Is he 100% ready for another weekend with me? No. There’s outstanding items on the ToDo list. But with a deadline approaching, it’s more likely he’ll get those done. And even if there are outstanding items, it doesn’t mean that we won’t have a very productive weekend.
Action is the most important key to success in my book.
If you’re not getting something, anything, done that moves the ball down the field, that brings you closer to your goals, you’re just wasting your time. Did you spend the weekend binge watching House of Cards versus a weekend of videos training yourself on some new skill? Well that tells you what is most important to you.
Are you like the serious student Rain, who wanted to stay in bed this weekend and lounge about, but his very smart girlfriend motivated him to get to Toastmasters International – which was one of the items on the ToDo list we agreed to, or are you lounging around. Guess what happened? He won a speaking award! Action over inaction will always produce results.
The second experience I had was with a man who reached out to me, from halfway around the world, to inquire about my mentoring program. He found me from this column, and liked what I had to say about Niches and Riches. We had a 45 minutes Skype call to discuss what he needed and wanted. Then we exchanged several emails back and forth, most of which were him telling me where I was wrong and how I didn’t fit his needs. I tried three different ways to meet his demands, and not once did he offer up a solution to me, of would be acceptable to him. He is a very smart man, quite capable, but not willing to take the action necessary to create the change he wants. I have little doubt that in a year he will be in the same position he is in today.
I also have little doubt that Rain will be nowhere near the position he is in today. The difference in life is who takes actions. Are they all winners? Certainly not. From Edison with his over 3,000 attempts at the lightbulb to Michael Jordan with his over 9,000 failed shots – the key is the attempt and the action.
What are you attempting to do? What action are you taking to make it a reality?
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