Tuesday, June 1, 2010

FORTUNE COOKIE: More thoughts on Initiative

Yesterday I posted a story about how in 2004 a series of hurricanes chased us out of a Florida paradise into the Texas Hill Country, which is a paradise of a different kind. I find I have more to say about the personal strength that made the biggest difference back then - initiative.

First, I’ve found that there are certain things in life that produce magic. One, of course, is love. Another is action. Especially massive action—coordinating lots of different actions all at once. 

But there may be all sorts of reasons why you may not want to take timely action. It can be scary to go where you haven’t gone before. You might be disappointed. You might encounter problems. You might fail.

But here's the thing about action. It's a lot like fishing. To catch fish, you have to go to the lake. You have to cast your line into the water, you have to experiment with different parts of the lake, and you have to keep on doing it even though most of the time your line comes up empty. In other words, you have to take action. Entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell said, "The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer."

We know that much of what we do won’t work. But we do things anyway, because it gets you down the road, and it’s the best way to learn what you need to know. And actions lead to other opportunities, which wouldn’t have been discovered if you hadn’t taken action. Thought is essential, but action is where the magic is.

In my business, we believe that the better the idea, the more likely other people are already thinking the same thing. The winners are those who get started first and follow through like crazy.

So get your butt in gear. Do it now. Don’t wait for assurance. Just do it.

Here's another Fortune Cookie for you...


Seize the opportunity, and five more will be offered to you.



The story behind the Fortune Cookies...

Post by Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D., Copyright 2010. Building Personal Strength .

1 comment:

Admin said...

If you have something unique to offer, it doesn't matter how many other people have your idea! Thinking outside the box.