Maybe I’m being a bit naive. After all, I’m only 29 years old. However, I’m a firm believer that there’s a difference between “taking action” and “real action.”
People will spend months reading, writing, preparing, assembling, designing, planning, tweaking, changing, editing, fixing, upgrading, testing, prototyping, meeting etc etc.
We often hear that the key to success is taking action.
They do all of this, but they never actually ship. I’m guilty of that. I’ve done that. I’ve lost the battle many times. The practice of taking action becomes a form of real and intense procrastination.
Some say the hardest part is starting; and many will argue that if we’re engaged in the steps above, we’ve already won the hardest part of the battle because we’ve started. Action has been taken.
Sometimes, I’d agree. When I procrastinate starting a Crossfit workout, it’s because of the intense pain I know I’ll experience shortly. But when I start, I know I’ll finish.
The opposite is the false start. It’s the feeling of accomplishment that we’ve actually started! We believe we’re taking strides in the right direction.
It’s a lot like signing up for a gym membership and never going.
It’s the endless pursuit of perfection without actually ever shipping your product out the door.
It’s like saying you want to start a blog, and you move forward by spending months researching how to actually do it. If you just start, it can be done in seconds and you can learn as you go.
The false start is a lot like the hamster in a cage. The wheel is spinning, but the hamster isn’t going anywhere.
What YOU need to figure out is, have you’ve actually started, or are you just spinning your wheels?
P.S. June 14th is Linchpin Day worldwide! On June 14th, in hundreds (maybe thousands) of cities Worldwide, Linchpins will unite.
What is Linchpin Day? Read this..
Are you a Linchpin?
I’ll be organizing a local linchpin meetup in Windsor/Essex County. You can find details here.
If you’re interested in attending and meeting up, please mark a spot on the list. I’ll be blogging more about this over the next couple of weeks.
