Post #5 - My Success Ideas - Action

Well after a lengthy break for the holidays I am back and ready to do some more blogging. If you are a first time visitor I recommend you start here at my first post :



http://mysuccessideas.blogspot.com/2009_10_01_archive.html



If you are not a first time visitor then I will not waste any more time. As I am sure you remember I believe that there are 4 pillars of success that we must all strive to possess if we are to become successful. I have already shared the first three with you and these were....



1. The importance of having a good Attitude.



2. The necessity to accept Responsibility



3. The power of Decisions.



Today I will share with you what I believe to be the fourth and final pillar of success. This final pillar is absolutely crucial to achieving any amount of success in life. This final pillar is Action.



Now this may seem to be a fairly obvious requirement for success but it is so very crucial that it can't be underestimated. You may have a good attitude and you may make good decisions and are taking responsibility for your life but unfortunately without action you are going to stay stuck in the same place you are today. It amazes me how many people I come across in life who know all the answers, who know exactly what it is they should be doing but are failing miserably at this last step. They are failing to take action !! Lets face it nothing happens without action. You can have all the plans and goals and mission statements in the world...but without action they are worthless. I work with people all the time who tell me where I should be investing my money or what fitness routine I should be following but when I ask them if they are doing this nine times out of ten the answer is "well no, I should be but......". These people are failing to take action!! I think there are many reasons why people may fail to take action, they may be afraid of failing, they may lack confidence or sometimes it is just easier to come home and sit on the couch and put off doing what you know you need to do until another day. The problem with this is that that day never comes. You continue to put it off and the action never comes.



So the next question I suppose would be "How do you get yourself to take action" ? Well that could probably be covered in a post all to itself, but for now there are a few simple things I can recommend. The first is to decide what you want to accomplish and set a goal. Once you know what you want, try some tricks like sticking your goals to the fridge or cutting out pictures of what it is your after ( new car, better physique, new job etc) and posting them somewhere where you will see them on a regular basis. Try reading or listening to motivational material. Every night before bed I try to listen to something inspiring on my ipod. I really enjoy material from one of the all time best, Mr Jim Rohn. The internet is full of all kinds of motivational material, hopefully this blog included, heck you could even share your goals here or somewhere else online for all to see. I find music can be very motivating for me when it is time to go the gym. Something loud and upbeat always gets me in the mood to move. These are just a few simple ideas to get and keep you motivated to take action. The important thing is that you find out what works for. Very rarely will someone come in to your living room to offer you a new job or present a new investment idea. You have to get out in the world.You have to take action. Action is is the crucial step to accomplishing your goals. Without it your best laid plans are simply that......plans and nothing more. That is the reason they say that "Talk is cheap" and that "Actions speak louder than words" . Action is the fourth pillar of success and is absolutely crucial to your future success.

Turning "It" all around...

Today I thought I would take a break from my regular blog routine, if I even have a routine after only four posts, and instead I thought I would share with you my thoughts from a movie I watched recently. The movie is Vanilla Sky starring Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz, and although it is perhaps a little difficult to follow in places, it has one of my favorite lines in it. If you haven't seen the movie there is a point where the main character David is perhaps beginning to lose control and and he is told by Sophia whom he has just met "That every passing moment is another chance to turn it all around.". Wow !! What a great line! I remember when I first heard this that I wrote it down and stuck in on the fridge. I did this for two reasons.

First - I wanted to remember it because I thought that it was so true and,

Second - and more importantly, I did it so that my kids would see it and ask me what it was all about. Which of course they did!

So what did I tell them? Well I used this opportunity to explain to them that life is full of decisions, some big and some small, and that throughout a typical day,week or year we make countless decisions. I explained that these decisions can play a huge part in the quality of our lives. For more on this see my post on the importance of decisions and decision making here http://http://mysuccessideas.blogspot.com. I also explained that nobody is perfect and that we don't always make the best decisions and thus sometimes we end up on the road to somewhere we don't want to be. Sometimes we refrain from making a decision and instead just end up "going along for the ride" while someone else makes the decisions for us. Before we know it we are in over our heads, doing something we don't want to do or perhaps just unhappy with where we are at in life. The great thing though is that with every passing moment we can turn it all around. In an instant we can make a decision that this is no longer the way that it is going to be. Now of course kids being kids, the next question was "what is it". Well I said.....it can be anything. We can start to change anything in an instant once we decide to change it. This is where I really tried to pass along some wisdom.

Perhaps you are hanging out with friends and you end up at a party with no parents home. You know you shouldn't be there but you "decide" to stay. Then some more kids show up and they have brought some alcohol. Now you are really uncomfortable but nobody else is leaving so you "decide" to stay. Now it's time to leave and someone who has had way too much to drink offers to drive home. As you all walk to the car this is the IT !!! Make a decision. Offer to drive, suggest you all walk home, phone me but with every passing moment you have the opportunity to say enough is enough, things have gone to far and I'm going to do something to change this outcome. It is the same with your life. Maybe you are broke, or in a bad relationship, or overweight or in a dead end job. If you don't like where your life is headed then do something ! Make a decision! It's not too late to turn things around. Say enough is enough and from now on things are going to be different, even if you don't know how you are going to do it. It all starts with a decision, and once that decision is made, then you can go about figuring out how you are going to do it. Once you have made the decision there are all kinds of resources available to help you figure out how to do it. You can follow along on my blog as I share with you what works for me. Better yet don't just listen to me, there are all kinds of people out there with blogs who have some excellent content. Although I think I have a pretty good plan, it is not the only plan. For now I encourage you to give some thought to your life and make some decisions about what you are willing to accept. Remember "That every passing moment is another chance to turn it all around". How many chances are you going to pass up ?