A LONG time ago, Greek philosopher Epictetus (55-135 AD) said, ‘First say to yourself what you would be; and then DO what you have to do’.
Jim Brown observes that, ‘Success is not only for the elite. Success is there for those who want it, plan for it, and take action to achieve it’.
To achieve your personal success you must, first, take focused, determined and massive action.
Successful people have the courage, faith and perseverance to take action while failures hesitate and procrastinate.
Alexander Graham Bell was right when he said, ‘The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action’.
It is your creative action that you take today that makes the difference between who you were yesterday and who you choose to become tomorrow.
What is action?
Action is word in motion. In other words, action is expressed word and physical energy that is creative.
Action is creative energy of the third and last level in your creation process while thought and word are creative energies of the first and second levels, respectively.
Action is important in all your creation processes because all forms of your creation end in action.
When you put together these three creative energies of thought, word and action that is when you create a condition, a feeling, an experience or a thing.
If your action is positive, then your condition, feeling, experience or thing that you create will also be positive.
If your action is negative, then your condition, feeling, experience or thing that you create will also be negative.
Action is your foundational key to all your success because it raises your standards, makes you become creative, changes things for you and fulfils your dreams.
It also replaces your fear with faith, increases your commitment and motivation, gives you boldness, courage and confidence and moves you forward and closer to your goal.
Your actions are stronger than your words because doing something is better than just talking about it.
Taking your creative action can make the difference between success and failure and also between life and death!
For example, on one evening, a man with a strong faith in God was walking to his home when he saw a group of five criminals armed with AK 47 Rifles.
Immediately, the man decided to take a creative and positive action of running for safety instead of just waiting for the criminals to arrive and then surrender to them.
He ran as fast as he could with his ankles almost touching the back of his head.
When he made a corner where the armed criminals could not see him, he saw a ditch and decided to jump into it to hide from them.
Some time elapsed.
But finally, the criminals arrived at the ditch but before they could come near to see what was exactly inside it, they saw that the ditch was completely covered with a spider web and they quickly concluded that the man could not be inside it because the spider web was intact.
So they went away looking for the man without knowing that they were actually leaving him behind hidden inside the ditch.
What really happened was that before the man jumped into the ditch, the top of the ditch was covered with a spider web.
When the man jumped into the ditch the spider web broke but the spiders quickly mended the web before the criminals arrived and this was how the man was saved.
The man’s strong faith combined with his positive and creative action saved his life.
Zero Dean says, ‘The results of your actions speak louder than words! You can read a million motivational sayings to pump yourself up – or echo them to others – but that won’t change anything unless you take action and consistently change your behaviour. Don’t just read or preach it and expect it to make a difference in your life. Knowing what you should do is not enough. You have to use what you know and take action’.
Taking action is far much better, stronger and more significant than just talking.
It carries more weight than what you say.
Bruce Jenner observes that, ‘I learned that the only way you are going to get anywhere in life is to work at it. Whether you are a musician, a writer, an athlete or a businessperson, there is no getting around it. If you do, you will win and if you do not you will not’.
When you do not take action then your own potential power within you becomes the fertile soil in which the seeds of your own regret grows.
For example, in one particular town a Tsunami-triggered flood came and flooded the whole town.
Government authorities immediately ordered everyone to evacuate and sent in transport for evacuation.
Surprisingly enough, one man refused to evacuate saying that he had strong faith in God and that God would save him.
When the news reached the authorities, a four-by-four Toyota Land cruiser vehicle was sent to evacuate him but the man refused.
At this time, the man had gone up to the second floor of his two-storey house which was still dry.
But soon water completely covered the second floor as well and the man had to climb to the roof-top of his house.
Then the authorities sent a speed-boat to evacuate him and again he refused.
Finally, the country’s President and commander-in-chief of the armed forces ordered that a military helicopter immediately be sent to evacuate him.
The man even scratched on his tongue in his refusal to be evacuated and he ignored all weather forecasts which were read to him.
He insisted that he had strong faith in God and that God would save him.
Soon after the military helicopter left, the man was completely swallowed by water, drowned and died.
When he met with God, the man complained and cried bitterly like a small baby pricked by a syringe at a hospital.
He complained, ‘God, why did you let me die when I had so much faith in you’.
God answered him saying, ‘My son, I know that you had strong faith in me and that was why I sent you three evacuation missions. Who do you think sent you the four-by-four Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle? Who do you think sent you the speed-boat? And who do you think sent you even a 20-seater military helicopter just for you alone? But you chose to ignore all my efforts to rescue you.
‘Your death, my son, is pure suicide that you chose for yourself. I did my spiritual part and you needed to do your physical part’!
Dalai Lama says, ‘It is unrealistic to think that the future of humanity can be achieved only on the basis of prayer; what we need is to take action. Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions’.
How many of us just depend on our own faith and prayers alone and sit lazily waiting for God’s miracle to happen in our favour?
We need to realize that it is a partnership!
God will never do for us what we can do for us.
Results require our action and the best way to predict our future is to create it.
James 2: 26 in the Bible says, ‘Faith without action is dead’!
This means that our faith and prayers are only alive and useful when they are accompanied with our own creative and positive action.
In life, many people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know.
Knowing is not enough!
You must take creative action.
Your centimetre of action or movement will bring you closer to your goals than your kilometre of your intentions because your gram of action is better, stronger and more significant than your kilogramme of words!
You create explosive results by taking bold, determined and focused action.
Carl Jung was right when he said, ‘You are what you do, not what you say you will do’ and the 35thUS President John F Kennedy once said, ‘There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction’.
The main difference between a successful person and a failure is not so much in their thoughts and words but it is so much in their actions.
To succeed, think and talk positively and then act creatively.
Remember the advice of John Rohn, ‘If you do not design your own life plan, chances are you will fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much!’
Your goal with no plan of action just stays and remains for ever as only your wish!
Succeed by setting your goal, mix it with your belief and conviction, and then take your massive creative and positive action to realise it.
The author is a motivational mentor and consultant in positive mind-set change. Email: positivemindpower1511@yahoo.com.