Action
Action is a gift as it allows us to practice, learn, develop (our plan) and ultimately achieve our goal. (When we act we are able to see our idea in reality, rather than in our imagination). Once you take the first couple of steps on your journey you can begin to make informed decisions. Is the ground soft or hard? is the terrain flat or undulating? if you know the answers to these questions you can make your journey so much easier. You can map a route through the valleys to avoid all the hills and you can walk on the grass to make your journey more comfortable. But remember just like this metaphor, if you stop at any point during your journey and do not continue, you will never complete your journey / achieve your goal.
As I'm sure you can guess, all action requires is that you work through your "to do" list. If you've planned correctly this should not only be easy, but it should be fun too.
Fear
The only time you will have a problem with action is when you experience Fear. Just to clarify when you feel doubtful this is also fear, only in a different guise. If you feel doubtful it doesn’t make sense, you’ve got a plan. So you’re fearful your plan will fail. Anytime you don't follow your plan, it's not doubt, it's not indecision, it is, fear!
If you find that you are simply unable to even bring yourself to act, don’t worry. You’ve just over thought things and you need to unwind and reframe. The following are the three steps to overcoming fear...
1. Firstly acknowledge the truth, that life is quite short and if you continue doing nothing, you’re going to continue getting nothing.
2. The next thing to do is remind yourself of the wisdom of Aristotle. “He who can overcome his fears is truly free”, because he can continue to progress. Put another way, if you don’t overcome this fear you will never achieve your goal.
3. Try again but with a positive attitude and execution bias. Have another go, but all the time keeping in mind that even if you lose you will be creating an opportunity to learn, breaking a bad cycle and practising a skill you need to develop. You are essentially getting three positives for one negative!
Outcome/Execution Bias
Fear is caused by falling back into the bad habit if not taking responsibility, so ultimately not feeling in control. This happens because we are focusing solely on something we have no control over (the outcome) rather than something we have complete control over (the execution).
You must do all you can avoid outcome bias (the valuing of an outcome more than anything else) and concentrate solely on execution bias (the valuing of the correct method of achieving goals). You can be successful once or twice out of luck, but if you know the correct method you can improve you winning streak exponentially. In other words, you only ever fail when you don't follow your plan, not when the outcome is something other than you desired. Things don't always work 100% of the time, it doesn't mean they're wrong. So long as you execute your plan perfectly no matter what the outcome, you are successful because you are doing the thing that will most likely work, you are practicing and learning so will be in a position to update your plan if needed.
If you don’t move you can’t progress, it doesn’t matter if movement results in failure. Failiure in itself is progress because it allows you to learn and adapt. Doubt the fear that has always held you back. Trust the plan that is moving you forward.
Action is a gift as it allows us to practice, learn, develop (our plan) and ultimately achieve our goal. (When we act we are able to see our idea in reality, rather than in our imagination). Once you take the first couple of steps on your journey you can begin to make informed decisions. Is the ground soft or hard? is the terrain flat or undulating? if you know the answers to these questions you can make your journey so much easier. You can map a route through the valleys to avoid all the hills and you can walk on the grass to make your journey more comfortable. But remember just like this metaphor, if you stop at any point during your journey and do not continue, you will never complete your journey / achieve your goal.
As I'm sure you can guess, all action requires is that you work through your "to do" list. If you've planned correctly this should not only be easy, but it should be fun too.
Fear
The only time you will have a problem with action is when you experience Fear. Just to clarify when you feel doubtful this is also fear, only in a different guise. If you feel doubtful it doesn’t make sense, you’ve got a plan. So you’re fearful your plan will fail. Anytime you don't follow your plan, it's not doubt, it's not indecision, it is, fear!
If you find that you are simply unable to even bring yourself to act, don’t worry. You’ve just over thought things and you need to unwind and reframe. The following are the three steps to overcoming fear...
1. Firstly acknowledge the truth, that life is quite short and if you continue doing nothing, you’re going to continue getting nothing.
2. The next thing to do is remind yourself of the wisdom of Aristotle. “He who can overcome his fears is truly free”, because he can continue to progress. Put another way, if you don’t overcome this fear you will never achieve your goal.
3. Try again but with a positive attitude and execution bias. Have another go, but all the time keeping in mind that even if you lose you will be creating an opportunity to learn, breaking a bad cycle and practising a skill you need to develop. You are essentially getting three positives for one negative!
Outcome/Execution Bias
Fear is caused by falling back into the bad habit if not taking responsibility, so ultimately not feeling in control. This happens because we are focusing solely on something we have no control over (the outcome) rather than something we have complete control over (the execution).
You must do all you can avoid outcome bias (the valuing of an outcome more than anything else) and concentrate solely on execution bias (the valuing of the correct method of achieving goals). You can be successful once or twice out of luck, but if you know the correct method you can improve you winning streak exponentially. In other words, you only ever fail when you don't follow your plan, not when the outcome is something other than you desired. Things don't always work 100% of the time, it doesn't mean they're wrong. So long as you execute your plan perfectly no matter what the outcome, you are successful because you are doing the thing that will most likely work, you are practicing and learning so will be in a position to update your plan if needed.
If you don’t move you can’t progress, it doesn’t matter if movement results in failure. Failiure in itself is progress because it allows you to learn and adapt. Doubt the fear that has always held you back. Trust the plan that is moving you forward.
No comments:
Post a Comment