DEVELOP THE HABIT OF TAKING ACTION ON TIME; EVERY TIME, ALL THE TIME.

“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. It is the first lesson that ought to be learned and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.”― Thomas Henry Huxley

Let’s face it; it is easier to wait than to act. 

It is easier to procrastinate than to make ourselves do what we need to do when we need to do it, whether we feel like it or not. It is easier to while away time than to put it to a good use. However, everything we desire comes from learning to make a move at the most appropriate time; from learning to make a move sooner rather than later.

 

Indubitably, true satisfaction in life comes from doing, not procrastinating and being lazy. Languor may feel good at the moment, but value is never generated without action. Just as Pablo Piccaso said:

“Action is the foundational key to all success.”

Since we can never earn money or any tangible rewards in this world without action; we need to learn to make it a priority in our lives. And we need to make it a habit. That’s exactly what Thomas Huxley, the famous biologist, is calling our attention to. Action is the key: it certifies our intentions; it destroys our fears, and enables our hopes.

The most successful people are bias for action. They move. They go. They act. Whenever they have a choice to either delay or act. They always choose to act. 

Conversely for many of us, we still find it easy to delay rather than act. We choose passivity over activity. We still find it easier to wait. Ostensibly, that’s the number one differentiator between us and superstars of this world.

Going forward, we will explore two simple strategies that will exclude us from the herd of the majority who consciously or unconsciously find it too easy to put important things off until later.

So how do we MAKE action; right action — timely action — a habit?

If you think about it, this is the greatest question of all. Simply because the greatest idea is absolutely useless until it is followed-through with action.

We have all accomplished many things by forcing ourselves to act when we needed to. And at the same time we have all fallen short of our very best, many, many times because of delay and procrastination. 

However, the secret of our maximum capacity lies in learning to do what needs to be done, every single time — even when we least feel like doing so.

And this is what the peak performance expert, Anthony Robbins meant when he said: 

“In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It is not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives but what we do consistently.”

Now the strategies….

TWO STRATEGIES FOR MAKING ACTION A HABIT

These two simple strategies have been proven in the lives of many successful people, so don’t overlook them because of their obvious simplicity.

1. SCHEDULE

“Some of our best intentions fail because we don’t have a system of execution.”—Darren Hardy

The strategy of schedule is perhaps the most effective tool ever used by superstars in all walks of life to produce consistently amazing results and make the most of their time. And it will do the same for me and you if we utilize it properly.

Here is how it works:

    1.    Decide something important you need to accomplish.

    2.    Fix a time for it in your day and set the alarm: i.e. 6 a.m.

    3.    When the alarm rings, get up and go.

    4.   Do it the first day and the next and the next.

    5.   Keep doing it, even when it is easier not to — especially then.

If you follow this process long enough to establish it as a habit; making things — big things — happen will no longer be as hard as it seems to you now.

This is because when you get better at one behaviour, you can replicate the process for another; and this makes you better overall as a leader. Schedule is a key component of a disciplined life.

2. MAKE THIS YOUR MANTRA: “DO IT NOW.”

The first strategy of schedule is the best solution for a recurring task or project. However, there are some important things that may come up and require us to act but without enough discipline we may want to let slide. 

To overcome the inertia of inaction for such tasks when motivation is low; we should say repeatedly, the three propelling words:”Do it now.” Then resolve to follow-through with action. 

W. Clement Stone would say it more than fifty times a day. He was the founder of Combined Insurance Company of America; which he started with $100 and built into a multimillion-dollar company. He made himself do big things consistently with the aid of this mantra.

Though, there is a caveat he mentioned: “Never utter those words without following-through with action.” The obvious explanation for this is to prevent us from a new insidious habit we don’t really want to start.

Developing the habit of action at the right time, no matter how we feel, can be practically challenging at the initial stage but if we have the discipline to put these strategies into practice for long enough time till they take hold in our lives: we shall see ourselves becoming the type of person we were meant to be; the type of person with the power to make anything happen.

This kind of power hinges on habit as Tryon Edwards reveals:

“Any act often repeated soon forms a habit; and a habit allows steady gains in strength.”

If we succeed at this in the long run, we would have achieved the most valuable result of all education; the discipline to take action at the most opportune time — which is invariably, now.