Your Kung Fu is Weak, Self Improvement Slacker!
Just what is it that you think you’re doing?
No, really. What are you doing here? Why are you reading this? What is it that you plan to do with whatever self improvement tip that you might pick up?
I only ask because there is a lot of reading, listening, and talking going on in the personal development community, and yet there are still a lot of readers, listeners, and talkers who haven’t really done a whole lot with what they’ve learned.
As I and many others have cited many times, knowledge itself is useless. It is only the application of knowledge that will provide benefit in your life.
Yet despite an inexhaustible supply of learning opportunities, most people are still just collecting information and not consistently doing anything with it. As Brian Tracy says, people are living on “Someday Isle.”
As in:
- Someday I’ll start my own business
- Someday I’ll start eating right and exercising
- Someday I’ll get out of debt
- Someday I’ll leave this dead-end job
- Someday I’ll {INSERT YOUR DREAM HERE}
Someday you will also leave this plane of existence and all of your chances to have been voted off of Someday Isle will be gone!
Another incredible speaker, Charlie “Tremendous” Jones talks about how these days everyone has to talk things out, get some advice, maybe even hold a meeting.
Charlie maintains that people don’t talk to other people in order to get encouragement to follow their dreams. They talk to other people in the hopes that someone will talk them out of it!
After all, success takes work. Who wants to work hard? After all, wouldn’t it be easier to just talk to a bunch of people, get really excited, but then never actually have to do anything?
An individual will talk and talk and talk about their dreams, including as many other people as possible in the discussion. However, the dream is YOURS, not theirs. Sure, you can inform them, even seek their opinion, but then go right ahead and do what you were going to do anyway! If I may quote Charlie:
So, I’ll ask the same question again:
Just what is it that you think you’re doing? Are you looking for advice? Permission? Persecution?
Not tomorrow, this weekend, next week, or next year. Right now.
Success is built from the inside out, so if you think you need to wait for the right set of circumstances in order to create your dream life, don’t hold your breath.
Is preparation part of the equation? Sure.
Is education part of the equation? Sure.
Is planning part of the equation? Sure.
You can use all of those tools, and many more as part of your success. However, take a moment to turn your mental clock back a number of years and remember when you first learned how to walk.
I bet you fell down plenty of times at first. You may have even gotten hurt in the process. In fact, in your toddler mind, you may have even used preparation, education, and planning as part of learning how to walk.
However, the most important thing wasn’t what you did before you tried to walk, but the fact that you did try to walk. And you kept on trying until you got it right.
You certainly didn’t hold a meeting to think of the best way to proceed before making the attempt, did you? It was what you wanted, so you risked everything to make it happen.
What happened to that wonderful mentality?
This post was inspired by watching several of the amazing speakers over at The Success Training Network, and I highly recommend you look into their program. However, before you go, I want to leave you with this final quote:
“I’m not gonna ease up, let up, shut up, give up, ’till I’m taken up. Matter of act, I’m just getting WARMED up!”
Related Resources
The Success Training Network
Life Success Productions
The Science of Success
Self Improvement ResourcesAuthor of that quote? Zig Ziglar, who just turned 80 years old.
Have a nice day.
4 comments:
I guess it's becoming normal for people to commit on something and suddenly stop doing it. Maybe a constant reminder is needed to motivate people into doing their task which in fact is good for them.
Thanks for your motivational post.
Pamela,
You are absolutely right about the constant need for motivation. Spelling out a plan for improvement is the easy part - sticking with it over the long-term is where the real work comes in.
I have considered several web-based or software-based self improvement solutions that would provide not only reminders, but incentives for people to stay on track. All of them are serious time investments as far as the production/development schedule, but I haven't ruled out eventually releasing something like that.
Thanks for your comment!
aaron, you are so right. research and knowledege are steps to action. it is such a waste of energy and time to do this work and then just stop.
what i have found is that people feel "uncomfortable" implementing what they learn. they say. "it is not me." that makes no sense.
if you want to get where you are going you have to step out of your "comfort zone."
Marcia,
Ah yes, the dreaded "comfort zone"!
Although as a general rule I advise people to stay away from things that do not resonate with them, there is certainly a difference between avoiding things that go against who you are as an individual vs. doing things that will help you to become a BETTER individual!
It all boils down to the old axiom:
"If you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always gotten."
Words to live by!
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