Guess what, action isn’t always the best course of action.
WHAT! you say, how is it that Daniel the all action orientated person could ever say such a thing!
Because there is a very huge difference between systematic action, and ‘busy’ action.
Systematic action is thought out, it is predefined and planned and is sticking to what your objective an end goal is
Busy action is changing your site from platform to platform (wordpress to html to joomla to whatever), it is moving from program to program
People often confuse the two, busy action is detrimental to your success, systematic action is where you will find yourself moving towards all your goals.
Before making this post, I had just thought that taking massive action in any direction is better than doing nothing at all, well… to be honest I am now at odds, because massive action in any direction is often worse than doing nothing because that action comes with an opportunity cost.
This makes me think of the quote by Abraham Lincoln:
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
The opportunity cost of taking action in an unfocused direction is like wasting that first four hours of sharpening the axe… you’re trying to chop down a tree with a blunt instrument!
If you find yourself in a place where you aren’t getting results, look at your actions, you might find yourself sitting there swinging away getting no where, moving from ’system’ to ’system’… if this is you stop for a minute, look at what you are doing, go sit under a tree and actually think about what you are doing. Then move forward.
Daniel
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Hi Daniel
Thanks for the great post- and a good reminder. I have found it’s focused, & consistent action that brings me the best results- massive action always seems to leave me out of balance with all the other things I enjoy in my life.
I found a great little program that really helps keep me on track.
http://www.listof6.com/
Basically it’s a little program that lets you keep track of the six most important things you need to do next- and it also keeps a history that you can print out, so you can see what actions are working for you, & what is wasting your time. I have one on each computer- one for my business, & one for my life- and it has really helped me to move forward, and focus on what I should be doing.
Brenda
Howdy Daniel.
I’m a very new member of PLR PRO. I started as a free member on December 26 and became a full member on January 10, 2008.
Massive action without a solid foundation and path to trod is not really me.
By that I mean, me being a Libra, I have to balance my desire to know everything before proceeding with the desire to get moving forward.
I have just started with taking notes on the SEO videos. For me to get moving and have success with PLR, I must balance my time with getting things done and at the same time learning. It is far to easy for me to fall into the mindset of “I need to know it all first.” No No. Get those wagons moving, Rawhide.
Your post Daniel really brings to mind that I need to make sure that each day I work on setting up sites and promoting AND not just focus on learning more. That is the key for me. Balance.
Now if I could just find some Crocs to wrestle!!!
No worries mate.
Thanks
Joaquin
Hey Daniel,
Thanks so much for this post. I’ve spent so much time coming up with great ideas, starting them, then finding some new program that I just know will work better.
This year, I really want to focus on one thing only, building a network of blogs that will bring in enough income for me to get out of debt and quit my job.
Thanks again,
-Kenny
Hi Daniel
Love the Lincoln quote - first time I’ve heard it, but for me, that sentence says it all.
I’ve had a really, really tough time in IM, and it’s because out in cyberspace both the axe and the whetstone wear disguises - and you CAN’T sharpen the axe yourself, all you can do is put it into the whetstone queue and wait, and sometimes your axe gets mysteriously dropped from the waiting line, and meantime your 4 hours are ticking away and your axe is no sharper… which drives me mad, because I’m a very Hands-On person!!
at the risk of sounding “catty” I think the “6 things” suggestion is one of the distractions.
What I HAVE found very useful is to buy and use a paper page-a-day diary, and to print out, color code, and stick up on my wall the 90DC Work Plan. Each day i do my 3 hours and I color in the tick boxes done, and when my axe drops from the whetstone line I tippex that box out again, which is HUGELY motivational, besides telling me where I am!! Last week, I went from Day 8 right back to Day 1 - I was furious, and the fury energised me to re-do the whole job and blast it through, and I did and got a great Template out of it, so that was my Silver Lining
Bottom line? Just keep going. Be patient, be flexible, be like a force of nature, like the water which wears down rock and carves a channel for itself. it’s sooo hard, and I wish I was trying to cut a channel in earth, not rock, but hey, at end of day, I’ll get to the sea!