We’ve come along way with self help. Social media and technology has changed the way we’re bettering ourselves. Everyday we’re bombarded with people telling us how to do things, ways to make us rich, or ways in which we can improve ourselves to better our lives. These gurus are telling us how much money we can make, and asking us to buy their products. Should we listen to them? Are they for real? Who knows, that’s another conversation.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s all really great stuff and for awhile I was very involved in self help. I was going to seminars, following people on social media, meeting lifestyle entrepreneurs, going to fitness expos, listening to podcasts all the time, reading books, etc. The list goes on and on and on. Here’s the thing, I am not in anyway talking down to the self help community or saying it’s a bad thing to constantly immerse yourself in personal growth. It’s a great thing, and I still am constantly learning new ways in my life on how to challenge myself and grow as a person all the time.
But, here’s why I stopped. I was going to these seminars, meeting new people, learning how to change my thinking, listening to podcasts. But, I wasn’t doing the one thing I knew I needed to do.
Take action.
I found myself around many great people who were very much into growing as people, and being involved in a great community. But, majority of them weren’t taking action in what they wanted to manifest in their lives. Some were, some weren’t. I realized that you can spend hours, days, weeks, years, etc. on learning how to get better, how to do this, how to change this. And on and on and on and on.
But, if you’re not taking action, then what are you doing it for, right?
When you take I always heard the saying, “Knowledge is power.” Yes, this is definitely true, but from my experience and what I’ve seen others do is that, “Knowledge is power when applied.” We can have all the knowledge about anything in the world, but if we’re not applying it or using it in someway in our lives then it goes to waste. I always try and surround myself with action takers. You meet a lot of people in life that talk a lot and have a lot of knowledge about a certain topic, but never take the action. That’s just the way it is. There’s two kinds of people in life:
There’s people that take action and people that don’t take action.
I wanted to cut down on listening to podcasts, reading more books, etc. These things are great but I wasn’t, “Taking action or doing anything.” Learning is great, but it comes to a point where you need to start taking action with what you want to do. Human connection and networking is still very important, but right now in this time it’ definitely difficult to be meeting in person. But, I cut down. I started writing more, recording more videos, learning and applying ways in which I can market myself and website. It’s trial and error. Just try it and take the action. If it doesn’t work, try something else. I have to keep failing to where I want to get to.
Thinking about starting a business? Start today.
Thinking about losing weight, and changing your diet? Start today.
Been thinking about starting a podcast? Start today.
You want to get your finances in line? Start today.
We all think, “Oh, but it has to be the right time.” I’ll start next month. Or, I’ll start when this pandemic is over. I’ll start when I have the money. The biggest thing right in front of our face our entire lives is “fear.” Fear of the unknown. We tell ourselves, “Oh that’s too risky, I don’t want to fail and see others watch me fail.” I’ve told these things to myself, I know you have too. We’re all human.
But, when we take risks, is when we really grow as people.
Most of us spend the majority of our time doing things that don’t benefit us. Like watching Netflix and playing video games. I’ll admit, I do these things. Not so much the video games, but watching Netflix. These things are enjoyable. It’s okay to do these things. Just not too much of them. I started asking myself,
“Is this benefiting me or helping me get better.”
Good things will come to those who wait. Will it though? Or, will good things come to those who take action? I don’t know, you decide. All I know is taking action in your life with whatever you want to do, is much better than taking no action at all. You’ll fail and you’ll fail again, But, you’re taking action and that’s the first step.