TAKE ACTION

PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS Series 29

TAKE ACTION

Action is a force that moves you toward your vision. Like other kinds of force, force of action gets things done. Force of action moves people and things and puts them where they ought to be. Force of action makes you efficient at work.

Action is the missing link between vision and possession. Actions are steps you take to move from where you are to where you want to be. Vision remains a dream without action. Actions are steps you take to move from dreamland to real land.

You have dreamed enough. It’s time to awake from your dream. Arise and take action.

Action is the missing link between hearing and learning. You can hear or read so much, but until you apply what you know all you have is knowledge. Wisdom is correct application of knowledge. Until you act on what you’re taught you have not learnt; you have only heard. That’s why educators measure learning by what learners can do after instruction. Functional education is measured in performance – what learners can do – and not knowledge, what learners know.

Action is the ultimate difference between success and failure. Nobody is a failure until she stops trying. Action is the bridge that takes you from one level of success to another. You’ve got to take the steps and move forward and higher toward the reality of your vision.

 

Action is the language of die-hard people, people who never give up until they make it. Action is the habit of highflyers. Have you ever seen a bird fly without taken action? If you drop a bird from a height, it will drop like a log unless it flaps its wings and fly. Successful people take more actions than unsuccessful people.

Here are five ways to get things done.

1.    

1. Do it now. Just do it. Having planned your work, you’re good to go. Then do it. Do it now! Don’t ever put it forward. Begin. Somebody said, “Beginning is half done.” Take the first step – begin! Don’t wait for external motivation. Motivate yourself and just do it.

2. Move by faith. Fear will stop you. Banish fear with faith. Life is all about risk-taking. But take informed risks. Having planned your way, get on the way. Take a step, another step, and then another step, moving forward by faith. You don’t have to see all the way clearly before you move. The Lord gives us lamp for our feet, not a flood light.

3.     Work with details. Be thorough. Act with details of what you’re going to do. Work with a list of what to do. Work with time table. Think about every detail before you start. And be mindful of the details as you work.

4.    

Work the talk. Don’t just talk. Act. Action turns talking into tasking, and it takes tasking to get things done. No serious organization sets up a talkforce but a taskforce, a team of people who get things done. Action is the relevant force behind every successful project. Taskforce gets the job done,  not talkforce. So, stop talking and start working the talk. Make yourself a one-man taskforce. Force yourself to work and work things out.

5.     Once you start, don’t stop until you finish. You can retreat, but you’re not permitted to retire. You can rest, but you’re not allowed to give up. Tell yourself once you start, you aren’t stopping until you finish. It’s a great habit to not stop working until the work is done. It makes you effective and feels great about yourself.