People at the top of every profession share one quality — they get things done. This ability supercedes intelligence, talent, and connections in determining the size of your salary and the speed of your advancement.
Despite the simplicity of this concept there is a perpetual shortage of people who excel at getting results. The action habit — the habit of putting ideas into action now — is essential to getting things done. Here are 7 ways you can grow the action habit:
1. Don’t wait until conditions are perfect - If you’re waiting to start until conditions are perfect, you probably never will. There will always be something that isn’t quite right. Either the timing is off, the market is down, or there’s too much competition. In the real world there is no perfect time to start. You have to take action and deal with problems as they arise. The best time to start was last year. The second best time is right now.
2. Be a doer - Practice doing things rather than thinking about them. Do you want to start exercising? Do you have a great idea to pitch your boss? Do it today. The longer an idea sits in your head without being acted on, the weaker it becomes. After a few days the details gets hazy. After a week it’s forgotten completely. By becoming a doer you’ll get more done and stimulate new ideas in the process.
3. Remember that ideas alone don’t bring success - Ideas are important, but they’re only valuable after they’ve been implemented. One average idea that’s been put into action is more valuable than a dozen brilliant ideas that you’re saving for “some other day” or the “right opportunity”. If you have an idea the you really believe in, do something about it. Unless you take action it will never go anywhere.
4. Use action to cure fear - Have you ever noticed that the most difficult part of public speaking is waiting for your turn to speak? Even professional speakers and actors experience pre-performance anxiety. Once they get started the fear disappears. Action is the best cure for fear. The most difficult time to take action is the very first time. After the ball is rolling, you’ll build confidence and things will keep getting easier. Kill fear by taking action and build on that confidence.
5. Start your creative engine mechanically - One of the biggest misconceptions about creative work is that it can only be done when inspiration strikes. If you wait for inspiration to slap you in the face, your work sessions will be few and far between. Instead of waiting, start your creative motor mechanically. If you need to write something, force yourself to sit down and write. Put pen to paper. Brainstorm. Doodle. By moving your hands you’ll stimulate the flow of ideas and inspire yourself.
6. Live in the present - Focus on what you can do in the present moment. Don’t worry about what you should have done last week or what you might be able to do tomorrow. The only time you can affect is the present. If you speculate too much about the past or the future you won’t get anything done. Tomorrow or next week frequently turns into never.
7. Get down to business immediately - It’s common practice for people to socialize and make small talk at the beginning of meetings. The same is true for individual workers. How often do you check email or RSS feeds before doing any real work? These distractions will cost you serious time if you don’t bypass them and get down to business immediately. By becoming someone who gets to the point you’ll be more productive and people will look to you as a leader.
It takes courage to take action without instructions from the person in charge. Perhaps that’s why initiative is a rare quality that’s coveted by managers and executives everywhere. Seize the initiative. When you have a good idea, start implementing it without being told. Once people see you’re serious about getting things done they’ll want to join in. The people at the top don’t have anyone telling them what to do. If you want to join them, you should get used to acting independently.
Note: This list was inspired by The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz. The book is highly recommended.
Related Articles:
(23 votes, average: 4.96 out of 5)
Loading ...
Very well put together. This describes about half of what I am doing constantly. Always working on something for little or no pay and the situation is never perfect but I keep moving forward, always taking action. One day I know that my efforts will have a break through. I think taking action is key and not sitting on ideas until something else happens.
Hey John,
Absolutely right. “Don’t wait until conditions are perfect”.
As you quite rightly point out “there is never a right time”.
Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do today.
Craig
Great points. I would add that the easiest way to motivate yourself is to enjoy the process. If you can’t figure out how to enjoy yourself, a part of you will always be dragging its feet.
I agree, Jean. That’s a great point! I wonder how I missed it.
Great input and very valuable! I’ve linked from my own home as well.
Cheers
Doing sure beats thinking about it.
Good point.
I agree with the list, most especially with being a doer because habits are only developed if we apply them in our daily lives. Practice is the key factor in developing something into a habit.
Point No.7 - I checked my email then read this blog entry and a half dozen other before opening Visual Studio today.
These are all very valuable. I have come to the same way of thinking over time, but have never seen them put together in a list like this. I am going to pass this along via my blog as well. Thank you for putting a lasso around these ideas and getting them into a shareable format.
Let’s activate this going forward. I’m going take positive steps to creating a new mindspace based on this very solution. Cheers!
[…] Linky […]
Point 5 is so true. Getting started is always a problem for me, I am always looking for the right moment or some thing to trigger me to get going. I have only recently learned to just “dive in” to what I have to do. Just start tinkering around with whatever task you have to do and it will eventually get rolling.
[…] action habit […]
[…] 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit […]
[…] have got to stop reading this stuff and start using the […]
Excellent list.
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
– Vince Lombardi
#2 and #4 are the absolute most important items on this list. If you do nothing else get up every day and do something. But please… just stop doing nothing.
Patrick
http://StopDoingNothing.com
“Do or do not — there is no try.”
-Frank Oz with his hand up Yoda’s keister.
[…] “Action Habit” I read an article this morning, 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit and realized that so many people always tend to keep their ideas inside for fear of being shot down […]
Probably the most important item listed here, they are all good, is turn fear into action, I’ve been working with that concept since I was about 20, now I’m 30 and I’m finally getting it down as a constant response.
I’m not saying to ignore fear all together, but know when it’s genuine fear because you’re life is in danger, or just fear of trying.
If I hadn’t checked Digg before working, I wouldn’t have known I shouldn’t check Digg before working.
now I know, and, when the conditions are perfect, I’ll start working before checking Digg.
If only I wasn’t so scared of the future, and the mistakes of the past, I’d be more apt to get doing things, instead of only thinking about them while waiting for inspiration to hit me, and sitting perfectly still so as not to chase away the muse.
1st corollary to Ben Franklin’s “Put Off”
“Never put off until tomorrow what you can put off until the day after tomorrow.”
This one took me a while to learn: If you don’t reward yourself and take a rest once in a while, you will lose your motivation, and even damage your health. You need to keep in mind *what you are working for* — generally, its to attain a sense of security and accomplishment, support your family. *That* is the goal, and you should keep it always in mind.
Great ideas.Will pass them on.What cure for laziness!
[…] http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/grow-the-action-habit (You’ll need to click this link to read about the other six […]
Excellent list. I’ve used it as the core of my post today.
[…] probably fit into one of these two categories. Over at Pick The Brain, I found this great article 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit that will help all of us, no matter our […]
[…] at Pick The Brain, they posted about how you can develop what they call “the action habit.” It sounded a […]
[…] Written by John Wesley […]
[…] If you’re at the point where you can trust what you say, then start taking those bigger actions. John Wesley @ pickthebrain.com has a great post on this called ‘7 Ways To Grow The Action Habit’. […]
Thanks for this post. So enlightening.
[…] Written by John Wesley […]
[…] habit. In effect, growing your action habit is tantamount to curbing your procrastination habit. 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit [Pick the […]
[…] Wesley skriver i sin artikkel 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit i bloggen Pick the Brain blant annet følgende om emnet: Think in terms of now - Focus on what you […]
[…] read more | digg story […]
[…] read more | digg story […]
[…] Useful GTD tips August 23rd, 2007 How to overcome procrastination or :7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit: […]
[…] Pick the Brain - Action Habit […]
Please. It hurts…
[…] are 7 ways to grow the habit and help it to grow (Hit the link for more […]
Nice post, but it basically encourages someone to become arrogant headless chicken.
Listen to yourself :
“Do you have a great idea to pitch your boss? Do it today”
“The longer an idea sits in your head without being acted on, the weaker it becomes. ” “Be a crusader”
I would rather suggest : If you have an idea, wait one week before acting.
A good idea will grow stronger, stupid ideas will go away.
Acting without thinking, will make you look like a doer, instead of a thinker, indeed. There’s enough selfish “crusader” action in this world already. No need to generate more junk : instead of stimulating the amount of ideas, rather you could set your target to filtering your ideas yourself before polluting your environment.
Great points. It’s a common mistake for most of us to wait for the perfect time. We should learn how to grab opportunities as soon as we see it because others might grab it while we are away.
[…] in Daily life at 7:38 pm by LeisureGuy Good advice, I think: People at the top of every profession share one quality — they get things done. This […]
[…] 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit (tags: lifehacks) […]
[…] 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit Ideas for taking action. (tags: business career lifehacks motivation productivity tips toread self-improvement) […]
I agree with these points. However, I’m concerned that the author of this article appears to be presenting them as his own ideas. This list of 8 items is very, very similar to another list of 8 items that appears in the book “The Magic of Thinking Big” by David J. Schwartz
This is certainly a very interesting article: I like the simplicity of the central concept, ie get into the habit of getting stuff done, and thereby stave off procrastination and keep your ideas fresh.
Plant lots and lots of good plants, don’t leave room for weeds, and avoid the risk that your seed will cease to be viable down the track.
It makes sense: action is the primary element in any process of implementing an idea, both in the sense that it’s the most important element, and the first thing that has to happen in order for implementation to occur at all. A seed won’t grow before it’s watered.
BUT.
The whole concept ignores what happens next. Let’s assume that you adopt the Action Habit: every idea you have, you make speedy action your priority. Every seed you have, you plant immediately. The risk is that you rush off in fifty directions at once, leaving no room for following through. The seeds choke each other, or fall on stony ground and wither: very few indeed come to any meaningful kind of fruition (this, I know to my cost, having seen this exact phenomenon in action both in my own work and in that of others).
So my first question is, how do you balance your action habit, your “plant while the sun shines” behaviour, unquestionably a good idea, with the need for focus, persistence, providing your seedlings with the best opportunity to grow to maturity?
I suppose one might set up some sort of system for prioritising ideas. One might, for example, give implementing an idea greater priority if it serves other goals - or, even if it doesn’t, if it’s not going to tie you up long-term, then you might choose to act anyway. I’d love to hear about other possible solutions.
Let’s assume, for the moment, that you do put some such prioritisation system in place. Whichever way you cut it, this is going to lead to some ideas being shelved, at least temporarily; which brings us back to the undeniable issue of ideas “going off” if you don’t act on them immediately.
So herein lies my second question: why is it so? What is it about an idea that gives it this “shelf life”, and what, if anything, can be done about it?
Love to hear any thoughts.
Cheers
H
beech log. decay year about for a while, magnificent we just pretty
It sounds as if Mike D is right, your list is too close to Schwartz’s book not to give him credit. You could still have added your own words, and you would be doing people a favor by putting these ideas on the web instead of people having to buy the book. This way you lose credibility when people notice how much you have “borrowed” without proper attribution.
You’re right. I’ve added a note referencing The Magic of Thinking Big. It inspired me and I should have referenced it from the beginning.
Aside from the actual items though, I did write all the descriptions myself. The book has no descriptions.
I think your post has added a lot to the list.
[…] 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit - […]
Personal Development List…
I have to give a big kudos to Life Coach Priscilla Palmer for starting her Personal Development List and a thanks for recognizing The PDA Pro Blog. I have decided to publish the list on my site as well for…
[…] 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit (tags: productivity lifehacks motivation self-improvement) […]
[…] 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit (tags: productivity motivation) Bookmark to: […]
[…] 7 formas de hacer crecer tu hábito de acción (en inglés) […]
[…] para Evoluir Posted by amendoins under Hábitos , Desenvolvimento Pessoal , GTD “7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit” é o nome de um post muito interessante que li no blog Pick the […]
[…] habit. In effect, growing your action habit is tantamount to curbing your procrastination habit. 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit [Pick the […]
Beautiful article. I echo whatever you have said and due to this habbit I was single handedly able to create my website. (www.rangdeindya.com) .
What I have learned in this process is:
1) Don’t wait for anyone, just start moving and if you have a vision, you will eventually see people following you.
2) Mediocre minds consider them leaders. The leader is the one, who when needed stands as a vanguard and protects everyone.
3) Never worry about result, If you believe yourself, just follow ur heart.
Once again excellent article.
[…] Wesley, who operates over at “Pick the Brain” wrote about 7 ways to grow the action habit. A very worthwhile read which will motivate you to start getting things […]
Once I posted a quick little blog item on my blog, almost verbatum, from the source… I guess I was too lazy and rushed to cite the proper credit…
wow! I was called on it within 20 minutes… And I remember thinking, “Good!” isn’t the Internet awesome!? It keeps us all very honest… While giving Everyone a voice…
All these ideas are great. Of course, prioritization must happen too…
My biggest challenge is with prioritizing. How to organiS that Master ToDo List of hundreds of tasks…. And how to pick the three i will actually do today.
[…] August 28th, 2007 in Productivity This article over at Pick the Brain is very insightful, and speaks to the problem of procrastination that many […]
[…] I’ve been told that some habits are hard to break when referring to bad habits. Let’s reverse that and make a good habit hard to break. Fortunately the people over at Pick the Brain have a great article on the seven ways to grow the action habit. […]
[…] pickthebrain.com by […]
[…] Posted by Hitesh Kapadia on August 30th, 2007 Written by John Wesley […]
[…] Pick The Brain - 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit “When you have a good idea, start implementing it without being told. The people at the top don’t have anyone telling them what to do. If you want to join them, you should get used to acting independently.” (tags: work advice gtd productivity procrastination boredom do creativity lifehacks motivation) […]
[…] I am a pro-crastinator. No amateur crastination here. But successful people have the habit of taking action, and not sitting around waiting for perfect conditions. John over at PickTheBrain gives us 7 ways to grow the habit of action. http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/grow-the-action-habit/ […]
[…] 原为地址：7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit […]
[…] 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit A straight-forward guide to developing a habit of action. TIP: Don’t bookmark this, because it’ll probably end up lost in the archives. Read it and do something now! […]
[…] 7 ways to get action oriented Getting things done. This ability supersedes intelligence, talent, and has bearing on the size of your salary and the speed of your advancement. […]
Great points. Great thanks.
“Remember that ideas alone don’t bring success”
This is very true, success has been cited as being 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. The trouble for many is that you really do need to have that 10% first. In other words you have to have the ideas first.Getting the ideas is a problem for many people and with a bit of work and guidance it is possible for each of us to explore and record our thoughts and ideas, select the best one(s) and then work on achieving them.
[…] Oct 23rd, 2007 by victoriaonofreiciuc How to overcome procrastination or 7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit: […]
[…] read more | digg story […]
[…] produtividade (este é um texto ótimo que encontrei no blog Pick the brain, neste link, e acho que é a minha cara, porque eu sou aquele tipo de sujeito que pensa, pensa, pensa, e depois […]
hi interesting post thk you http://proxy.arts.uci.edu/agents/download/src/1/index..html see you
vdfggjhrewefdv
smell
Hai,
You have such agood point out there,
thanks for sharing,
Tracy ho
Wisdom Getting Loaded
i dont know if always actig in a rush ways is the right way always,,as we learned in our business books to think and to put a plans befor immpleminting,,but may be doing thing is better than to regret not doing them
bisan
4-1-2008
im shy
very shy
Now, we just to our he got other things the boys in the
what should i do if im shy
i don’t know
[…] John Wesley’s article on Growing the Action Habit to keep you motivated during the early days of […]
Great post, and some great ideas on how to develop an action mindset and become a ‘doer’ instead of just a ‘thinker’
Changing your mindset is the best way to really become action oriented. I was a thinker all my life, until I realized that I was getting nowhere with my thoughts. What does it matter if I’m smart and well read if I can’t seem to accomplish anything meaningful in life?
EXACTLY!
I was finally able to change my mindset after reading ‘The Power of Concentration’ by Theron Q Dumont, using the Intelligent Warrior subliminal message videos, and just practicing - doing instead of thinking.
Over time things become automatic, as they are drilled into the recesses of your guiding subconscious. The work is well worth the effort!
All my best,
Jason
Subliminal Success
http://www.liveloaded.com
Absolutament regresar a las reglas basicas en la profesion mas importante en America “Ventas”
Great list of advice. The one I like most is not waiting until conditions are perfect, which is something I sometimes struggle with. Kudos.
“A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.” George S. Patton Jr.
[…] be the best salesman, train, read, attend seminars, do what ever it takes to make it happen! Make taking action a habit and you will always get more done, feel better, and be an amazing […]
[…] management, you can set out a to-do list in your planner and follow it. The important thing is to set goals for yourself. These should be achievable and with a time factor incorporated, so that you can chart […]
[…] 7 Ways To Grow The Action Habit […]
[…] make sure we can fight off procrastinate, let’s add an extra point on how to quit doing it! From Pick the Brain, we find 7 ways to fight procrastination by growing the action […]
Insightful post, I think your point about starting your creativity mechanically, is a good one. Set aside time each day to do the work on that creative project and begin once the time you have set aside begins.
You will give the spaqce for your creativity to show up.
It will be a way for you to turn on your creative juices because you are honoring your creativity and providing a regular space for it to pour out of you. All 7 points very helpful.
[…] 原为地址：7 Ways to Grow the Action Habit […]
[…] reach for the stars. The best way to diminish fear and eradicate self doubt and build buoyancy is taking action. As early as we do, we’ll begin accumulating experience and awareness. Everything is hardest […]
[…] reach for the stars. The best way to diminish fear and eradicate self doubt and build buoyancy is taking action. As early as we do, we’ll begin accumulating experience and awareness. Everything is hardest […]
I totally agree with all 7 habits. They are so true, but if you really wanna follow them you gotta get out of your comfort zone, it sucks all your time and energy. get out of comfort zone, face the heat.