Why Aren't You Taking Action?

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."

- Dale Carnegie

Like so many of my clients, I have trouble at times taking Action toward a goal or new habit. I have clients that, month after month, fail to start and sustain their weekly huddles, raise their prices, begin recruiting and building a virtual bench, etc.

Why? We know it is what we want but we stop!

First let's talk about goals and rocks and habits. Before we discuss why you are not taking action toward a goal or rock, or developing a new habit, let's talk about what those things are.

Goals are SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Accountable, Realistic and Time based. They should be numbers, ratios, binary. The things we need to do to achieve them are the Rocks/Actions, and many times we must develop new habits to complete and sustain the Rocks /Actions.

Goals must then be commitments - things you are not interested in happening, but things that you want badly to happen and are willing to do anything to achieve.  That means things you sometimes are uncomfortable doing. But if you write the goal on paper and you prioritize the actions /rocks and habits it will take to achieve them, you have become a really good Goal Setter. However, if you then find yourself procrastinating, trying to find time each week to pursue the Actions you need to take to obtain your goals, then that is all you are: a Goal Setter. That can be frustrating and creates a lot of self-doubt and stress, something you don't need more of.

So why do we stop and put off taking the action needed to reach our goals and plans?

John Asserif in the following 7 minute video answers the question for you. My only addition is that when you write down why you are stalled out, you take each of those fears and/or uncomfortable feelings and ask yourself: Are they really true?Will I let that happen? What is the possibility?

Fear is in the the fact that you cannot predict the future. The horrible things your mind can conjure up will never happen but those "thoughts" are paralyzing. Are they true? No.  Shift your mind to creating the future you want by taking Action now - today - and the fear will disappear.

Watch John's video here.