If you have a great idea for a book, but haven't written a book, then you don't have a book.
If you have a great idea for a business, but haven’t outlined a business plan and started checking things off a list, you don’t have a business.
If you really want to lose weight, but are sitting watching TV, you're fat.
Until you put your foot on the base of Mt. Everest and then start walking upward, you’re not climbing Mt. Everest.
My cousin Don is a writer. Among other things, he is a blogger extraordinaire. The above excerpt is from one of his blogs, Kaleidoscopic Raygun (www.kaleidoscopicraygun.com)
I enjoy my cousin's blogs. He is a good writer, very funny, and often inspirational, but this particular entry from last August 22nd really hit me. Like a bus. It literally took my breath away.
In this blog entry, Don goes on to talk about a guy who really wants to write a book and has asked for help. This man did not sit around watching TV, wishing he could write a book. He did something about it. He took action.
He did not, as my cousin says, quit his job, hide away in a cabin in the woods or buy himself expensive coffee while waiting for the perfect writing conditions to happen. He just kept doing little things consistently, every day, one day at a time. Over the course of four years, this man cobbled together blog entries, tweets, documents and articles he saved from the paper, and fashioned himself the beginnings a great story.
This man took action and moved forward.
I, on the other hand, have not been moving forward. I have things I want to do - have always wanted to do - but I've been stuck on the hamster wheel of 'waiting for the right conditions' which never seem to come. Thanks to my cousin's blog, I see now that the right conditions will never come because the 'right conditions' are an illusion.
The truth is that there are no 'right conditions' and no 'right time'. There is only here and now, and what in God's name am I going to do with it? I have wasted a lot of time waiting for the 'right conditions' and I don't want to waste a minute more. I want to dive in and take action!
I don't want to 'think about' writing. I want to actually write! Really write. Consistently. Everyday no matter what. That is one of the reasons I started this blog!
Towards that end, I have written a plan of action. It is a list of specific steps I am going to take to make sure I write something every day. No matter what. And in this plan of action, I have definite, concrete goals for what I want to accomplish with my writing. This is a step. It is an action. It is a move forward.
It feels very good to take action. It feels very good to move forward.
One of the other reasons I started this blog is because I want to do something that causes me to go out and become involved in my local community, but this is another instance where I have been stuck on the hamster wheel of 'waiting for the right conditions'.
But no more! I have taken an action here, too. I have joined a fantastic local walking / running group which goes year-round. You can check it out at the following link: www.facebook.com/groups/206222421048/
I joined because in addition to getting out and becoming involved, I need to reclaim my health, I need to lose weight. I don't want to be the person sitting on the couch watching TV and only thinking about losing weight because, as my cousin points out, that just makes me fat.
Walking has been great. I get to exercise, see downtown, and make new friends. (How great it will be in February remains to be seen, but I am determined).
Although I haven't seen any physical pay-off yet, I sure am feeling better.
So, there you have it. Sure, I won't be climbing Mount Everest any time soon, but I am going to keep on doing little things every day; little actions that move me forward one day at a time.
What motivates you? What are the little things that you do to keep yourself moving forward?
Until next time,
Robin in Flint
In this blog entry, Don goes on to talk about a guy who really wants to write a book and has asked for help. This man did not sit around watching TV, wishing he could write a book. He did something about it. He took action.
He did not, as my cousin says, quit his job, hide away in a cabin in the woods or buy himself expensive coffee while waiting for the perfect writing conditions to happen. He just kept doing little things consistently, every day, one day at a time. Over the course of four years, this man cobbled together blog entries, tweets, documents and articles he saved from the paper, and fashioned himself the beginnings a great story.
This man took action and moved forward.
I, on the other hand, have not been moving forward. I have things I want to do - have always wanted to do - but I've been stuck on the hamster wheel of 'waiting for the right conditions' which never seem to come. Thanks to my cousin's blog, I see now that the right conditions will never come because the 'right conditions' are an illusion.
The truth is that there are no 'right conditions' and no 'right time'. There is only here and now, and what in God's name am I going to do with it? I have wasted a lot of time waiting for the 'right conditions' and I don't want to waste a minute more. I want to dive in and take action! I don't want to 'think about' writing. I want to actually write! Really write. Consistently. Everyday no matter what. That is one of the reasons I started this blog!
Towards that end, I have written a plan of action. It is a list of specific steps I am going to take to make sure I write something every day. No matter what. And in this plan of action, I have definite, concrete goals for what I want to accomplish with my writing. This is a step. It is an action. It is a move forward.
It feels very good to take action. It feels very good to move forward.
One of the other reasons I started this blog is because I want to do something that causes me to go out and become involved in my local community, but this is another instance where I have been stuck on the hamster wheel of 'waiting for the right conditions'.
But no more! I have taken an action here, too. I have joined a fantastic local walking / running group which goes year-round. You can check it out at the following link: www.facebook.com/groups/206222421048/
I joined because in addition to getting out and becoming involved, I need to reclaim my health, I need to lose weight. I don't want to be the person sitting on the couch watching TV and only thinking about losing weight because, as my cousin points out, that just makes me fat.
Walking has been great. I get to exercise, see downtown, and make new friends. (How great it will be in February remains to be seen, but I am determined).
Although I haven't seen any physical pay-off yet, I sure am feeling better.
So, there you have it. Sure, I won't be climbing Mount Everest any time soon, but I am going to keep on doing little things every day; little actions that move me forward one day at a time.
What motivates you? What are the little things that you do to keep yourself moving forward?
Until next time,
Robin in Flint
