All you need is a little bit of ACTION!

Action, the one and only thing that determines success in your en devours. Of course you need to think about what you do and make a plan, but it all boils down to action. If you are always talking about a thing, that's what it will always be, talk, if you are always thinking about something, again, it will always just be thoughts.

Action and what can actually be more important, failure, is what makes people better. Now failure sucks, and in a sense, failure is the wrong word but always used none the less, if you are taking action and stumble at a task, or run into an obstacle, or even get blown out of the water by someone else, that's just what that is, stumbling, an obstacle or interference... what failure is though, is when you give up at that point. You decide it is no longer worth the action required, and sometimes it wont be worth it. But know that giving up is the failure and not what stopped you.

So what is key here, well, to act, just do the things you need to do to succeed, go for an interview, ask for a raise, travel to another country. This fear of failure is irrational, because our minds make it much bigger than it really is. "They will laugh at me at the interview and tell everyone I suck!" "My boss will fire me if I ask for a raise and I will loose everything!" "I will get arrested for something and rot away in some foreign prison" Now these may be a bit out there, but our minds do trick us into thinking that after we do the action we want, the consequence is the end, where as it is just another part of our lives, and better yet, its never as bad as we think it could be. Just ask yourself, whats the worst that can happen?...

After I resigned from my "safe" job I started an advertising newspaper, this was also something I did not really have experience in but I had idea and formulated a plan. My first publication was a thin half paid admag which I thought looked awesome, although in the back of my mind was "oh no, no-one will like this tiny thing," "my business will fall, only half the clients paid" "I don't know what I'm doing, I should just pack it up and find another job."... Luckily I kept those thoughts in the back of my head and never gave them too much focus, as after a few more publications and getting new and paying customers the newspaper is as strong as ever. All I had to do was persevere, a lesson I learned from my mother whom would not let me fail.

Easier said than done, but get into the habit and you wont want to see it any other way.

When you get an idea, it is important to foster

and grow the idea, though that is as far as that should go, what becomes more important is taking the idea and formulating a plan, creating a prototype or making a presentation. Then again, it stops there, that is not the end of your brain fart... you must ACT on the plan, prototype or presentation, only then will you have created something out of seemingly nothing.

Now taking that initial step can be daunting, so here is a tool I found in the book Awaken the Giant within, by Tony Robbins. I have changed the layout a bit, but essentially its an eight steps to action sheet, which breaks down what you need to do so you can see its not all that bad. There are 8 questions and blocks for you to fill out your answers, each answer can break down the fear of the action which needs to be taken.

Block one: What needs to be done: This is the action, for example's sake lets say, "I must ask for a raise"

Block two: Why have I not done this yet: Here you can list the reasons you think you have not done it yet, maybe it has to do with fear or feelings of inadequacy.

Block three: Why does it 'hurt' me to do this: Here you can elaborate on the answers in block 2, "Fear of rejection", "my boss may tell me I am not 'worth' it."

Block four: What 'pleasures' have I indulged in by not doing this: This block addresses your own limits to the action, "Talking about asking for a raise"

Block five: What happens if I don’t do this: For me this one hurts, most the time the answer will be "Nothing changes", others can be "I wont get to move into a better home,drive better car etc,"

Block six: How does step 5 make me feel: Articulating your emotions can be a great driver for action, knowing how you feel can make you want to change things.

Block seven: How can doing what needs to be done benefit my life and how would that make me feel: Here you can list what good can come of your action, not just anything material but also emotionally.

Block eight:What are the first steps to accomplish this: This is the fun part, these are your first steps to creating a plan of action to accomplish your goals "How can I successfully ask for a raise" - (Just for interest sake, if you are looking to ask for a raise this guy has the best strategy for doing that, best part, its free. He is Ramit Sethi and he has a lot of information for you to get what you want from life.)

I hope this will help you as it has me. Let me know what you think and please share.

Here below is an image of the Action Steps Sheet, you can go to my resources page or click here to download it.