Why taking action creates success

Action is the key to moving forward in anything you do.

Some of us may have a challenge on our hands and wonder what direction to take. Some of us may be paralyzed fearing we'll do the wrong things. Others of us are just plain procrastinators at heart and have a hard time moving on something. But, in the end, action is the only course of movement ahead if we are to grow, adapt, and advance in our personal and professional lives.

Action can be small

“Even snails make progress with their slow movements.”

Incremental action is better than no action. Without action, we stay stagnant, stuck in place, not going anywhere. It is like as if we had a Ferrari sitting in our driveway and we never take it out for a ride.

Start Small and Build From There

Creating an #actionplan doesn't have to be big an daunting. It can be as simple as asking yourself three simple questions:

What do I want to change?

Why do I want to change it?

What is one thing I can begin to do to make this change?

Find something you can do to affect change in this area that is something you feel comfortable taking on. Make it something manageable, concrete, and realistic. For example, let's say you've received some feedback that your direct reports don't feel that you are very encouraging as a manager. In fact, people seem to think you look at the negative on things, versus the positive. You've decided they may have a point and perhaps you do tend to look at the glass as half empty. But, you're willing to change. It's just a matter of changing your mindset and your behaviors.

Decide on Your Change

“Even a small change, can have big effects.”

To continue this scenario we just discussed, let's say you answered the questions this way:

What do I want to change?

I want to change my attitude to something more positive

What do you want to change it?

Because I want my employees to feel encouraged and happy to work for me

What is one thing I can begin to do to make this change?

I will plan to say something positive and encouraging in every one of my interactions with my employees, especially during team meetings.

GREAT! Now you're on your way to taking action and moving things forward. Baby steps are fine whenever we are looking to make a change and oftentimes this is best. That's because taking on huge action plans with big ambitions and lots of energy required, can be daunting and sometimes not even realistic. Keep it simple and then you can build from there.