Call to Action!

‘Today, I am asking you to take action.  To take action towards achieving whatever it is that you desire, whatever it is that you picture as successful.’  I recently began a speaking engagement with the preceding two sentences, and ended the same engagement with perhaps my favorite quote:

‘Action does not guarantee happiness, but there is no happiness without action.’

                                -Benjamin Disraeli

Well, today I have a challenge for you.  It is not all that hard, and the benefits are tremendous.  First, please take a few minutes and think about a goal that you have.  It could be anything, big or small, whatever comes to mind.  Now, take a break from reading this and write down what this goal is.  This is important, you must write it down.  The process of writing a goal down on paper makes it real and tangible.  Just writing it down turns it from a hope or idea into a goal.  Goals are attainable; hopes, not as much.  Now, for the second part of the challenge; make a commitment to take action in pursuit of that goal today!  You must do something in pursuit of this goal today.  Write down what action you are going to take.  Now do it.

‘A journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step.’

                                                -Confucius

Let’s say that your goal is to become conversationally fluent in Spanish.  Well, go purchase an audio cd and start listening.  Eventually, enough of listening and practicing makes you fluent.  It has to start somewhere.  Or your goal is to be a more attentive parent.  In that case, spend 1 hour of undivided attention with your kids tonight.  Whatever your goal is there is absolutely some form of action that you can take today.  Even an ambitious example like this goal, I want to make 1 million dollars a year.  If this is your goal, you can dedicate 30 minutes to brainstorming and writing down all of the different ideas you have to make money.  You won’t make 1 million dollars a year without having great ideas and taking action.

It is often the first action that is the most difficult.  By taking the first step, each subsequent step is easier.  Nudge the snowball over the hill and watch it grow as it races down the hill.  Make a commitment to take action toward your goals every day.  Once you do it today, tomorrow will be easier.

Here is a recent example from my life.  One of my goals is to eventually write personal development books.  Now, writing a book is a long process that can seem incredibly ominous.  At times, it is overwhelming for me to think about writing a complete book with all of the other commitments in my life.  However, rather than be frozen by the enormity I made a decision to take consistent actions in pursuit of this goal.  The first day of writing was by far the most difficult.  But, I got something down on paper and each time it is easier.  I now write at least one page of content and ideas per week.  This equates to roughly one paragraph a day.  I added writing one paragraph a day to my daily to do list.  Recently, I made the decision to switch my writing into a weekly article and using the blog format that you are reading now.  These actions will eventually allow me to reach my goal.  It started with one paragraph.

Imagine what you can accomplish if you take some form of action every single day in pursuit of all of your goals.  If every single day, you do something to get better.  It is not necessarily the goals themselves that we are after; it is the happiness and fulfillment that comes from the pursuit and the journey.  There is no happiness without action.

Kyle C. Ryan