Mastering The ‘Action’ Habit
The goal of this article is
to close the gap between learning and applying what has been learned. Many people learn a lot of things. The challenge is then applying everything
useful learned. To do this, it requires
what I call the ‘action’ habit.
Some people are prone to
just think about something endlessly without a whole lot of action. If you want real results in your life, you
must master the action habit. Results only
come from action, not by idly thinking.
The action habit is the
habit whereby you employ a ‘do-it-now’ philosophy. The action habit is where you think about what you want to do,
make a written plan, and then execute it immediately. The people with the ‘action’ habit avoid unnecessary delay. They take calculated risks and they move
forward in their lives.
You see, I used to be a
computer scientist. Yep, that’s
right. While I was doing my master’s
degree in computer science, I thought and thought some more. I thought a lot. I wrote papers. I did
experiments after much painstaking, (over)analysis of the problems. Hey, that’s what computer scientists
do. That’s the nature of the
profession.
The challenge was that I
took this “Think without much action” approach home with me. I studied numerous self-help programs. The problem? I did not apply them.
In my mind, I imagined wonderful results if only I could get myself to
take action. I fast became a learned
self-help ‘academic’. This meant I knew
all the techniques and concepts but did not apply anything. I wasn’t getting any true results in my life
by just studying.
The way to get real results
is by action and I’m here to show you a specific method to take charge of your
life and get the action orientation down.
Language gives us insight into our mindsets. Changing our mindset creates corresponding changes in how we
speak. How we speak is a direct result
of how we think. The opposite is also
true. Changing our language and how we
speak changes our thoughts and thus our mindset.
So to master the action
habit, let’s change our language. First
of all, let’s eliminate the phrases such as “I think” or “I believe” from our
language. They lock us into the inactive
mode. What is more powerful to
you? “I think I’m going to go to a movie
tonight,” or “I’m going to a movie tonight.”
Try it out by saying it in your own mind. Notice the difference.
I’m not at all suggesting that we abandon thinking. It is necessary and useful. Let’s just think and then go for it!
How else can you create the
action habit with your language? Well,
you can begin to use active words. Here
are a few examples below:
“Let’s jump on this
proposal and run with it.”
“Crank it up a notch
to get more done.”
“I’ve got to roll now
and I’ll talk to you later.”
“Let’s grab some
lunch now.”
What do all these active
words have in common? They are
physically oriented actions. Integrate
these physically active words into your language. How you speak to yourself and others influences your unconscious
mind.
Compare those examples with
these drab, boring sentences:
“Let’s advance this proposal
and go to the next stage.”
“Increase your performance
and you will accomplish more.”
“I must get going now and
I’ll talk to you later.”
“Let’s get some lunch now.”
For all of the above
sentences, none of them have verbs that communicate any real, physical
action. That’s the challenge I have
with them. Use active words and you’ll
naturally notice the difference.
To recap,
Kent Sayre is a worldwide persuasion expert and author of “The Ultimate
Persuasion Formula” available at http://www.TheUltimatePersuasionFormula.com
Furthermore, he is the author of the bestselling book “Unstoppable Confidence”
endorsed by such celebrity authors as Brian Tracy, Robert Allen, and Jim
Rohn.