The Action Advantage; Why Doing Beats Explaining
What action will you take today to move things forward?
Image by Guinar Mardanova from Unsplash
You’ve no doubt noticed there are days when resistance seems to win. Your to-do list seems daunting, your energy sinks, and explaining why things won’t work is the path you pursue rather than making things happen. We've all been there – that gap between knowing what needs doing and actually doing it.
Here's a truth that changed things for me: We can go from new to success, we can go from failing to success, but we cannot go from excuses to success. That road doesn't exist. When we use our energy to craft explanations for inaction, we've placed ourselves on a tough path - we’re actually building the wrong muscle. Instead of developing our capacity to act, we're becoming adept at justification. THAT is an expertise that won't move us forward.
What to do instead? Redirected your energy into going ahead and solving problems rather than explaining why things wouldn’t or couldn’t work. Agency – our ability to make choices and take effective action – is a muscle. The more we use it, the stronger it becomes. Each time you choose action over explanation, you're doing a mental rep that builds your capacity for future challenges - your capacity to find a way and make things happen moving forward. Small steps foward - the smallest of steps - compound over time into remarkable momentum.
Big things happen when you stop mentally cataloguing all the reasons why something may not work and take a step instead. Big things happen when you take a step, make adjustements and learn on the go. The solutions and capabilities you discover by taking ACTION very-often remain invisible when you’re merely contemplating what to do. Your brain literally works one way when you're in motion, and works differently when you're in contemplation and analysis mode. Taking action — ANY ACTION or step forward is empowering. Taking action and taking it upon yourself to move things forward isn't about atoning for past inaction – it's about claiming your power to shape circumstances and what happens next. For those feeling drained and overwhelmed, the shift from explaining to executing can be a true game-changer.
So what to do? Start small. Identify one area where you've been crafting explanations rather than ways forward. Challenge yourself to take one concrete action however small, rather than perfect the story of why things are challenging or will never work out. Notice how different it feels to act rather than contemplate - to accomplish rather than justify. Celebrate the fact you’ve taken action whatever the outcome because by acting rather than explaining, you’re building a critically-important muscle.
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To summarize: When we trade justifications for commitments, and excuses for experiments, we enter into an entirely different relationship with our work and ourselves, so make it a maxim to act rather than justify. Explain less, and place your focus on discovering what might be.
Your Agency is up to the task — what action will you take today to move things forward?
You may have doubt, may be afraid or unsure, and may have been told things can’t possibly work. Even so, rather than explain why things didn’t happen, Act. Find a way to go ahead anyway. Only then will you be on your way to what’s possible and what’s next.