Taking action is difficult. Most of us have a fairly good idea about how to achieve our goals. We mostly know the steps that we should be taking to realise our dream life. And yet, most of us, including me, fail to deliver. Taking action is difficult. Taking action is the key.
“Don’t wish it was easier, wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems, wish for more skills. ”
Jim Rohn
Ask any consistent action taker, he would say that it is difficult. If you go consistently to the gym for a year, the weights do not get lighter, you just get better at lifting them. Taking action is difficult. But it has its rewards. It never gets easier, you just get better.
Failure is a stepping stone for success
You will fail a lot. Keep at it. A recent example comes to mind. I was unable to do even a single push-up. It felt like my muscles did not have the energy to push me ‘up’. Doing push-ups was difficult for me. But I kept at it. I watched YouTube videos on ‘how to do push-ups’. Started with wall push-ups, then knee push-ups. When I was able to do that first push up, it felt amazing.
Now, I can do 50 push-ups. Feels amazing. Is it less difficult? No. I just got better at doing push-ups.
Deliberate Practice
While learning to do push-ups, I was consciously trying to learn and improve. I learned different ways to do push-ups. My actions were deliberate.
View everything you want to do as your ‘craft’. How do you learn a ‘craft’? By practising deliberately. Working with an intention to improve.
Deep Work
Taking action is difficult and therefore, work should be free of distractions. Put on your headphones if you are in a noisy environment. Disable notifications on your phone or better still, hide your phone while you are working.
Allocate at least 4 hours of distraction-free time to work. It is said that we get in a ‘flow’ state after about 45 minutes of working on something. ‘Flow’ is the state when you are your most creative and productive. It allows you to output your best work. If you keep getting distracted with your phone notifications or calls, entering into the ‘flow’ state will be difficult.
Consistent Action
Taking Action is difficult. But, taking consistent action is hard on a whole another level. It is also the ‘holy grail’ of success. The discipline of going after your goals seems very logical, right. After all, if something guarantees your success, why wouldn’t you do it?
It is one of the mysteries of life, which I do not have answers for. However, all the books I have read on personal development and through personal experience, I can say that taking consistent action is the key to success.
Napolean Hill wrote a whole book on this – ‘Master key to riches’.
And guess what, taking consistent action is difficult. But, you also know the prize.
What is your goal and how have you taken consistent action towards it? Let me know in the comments.
