Here is a fantastic list of 8 rules for driving action into success in your life. Taking action is the single most important thing you can do to be successful. The hardest part is taking that first step and these 8 rules will help get you closer to your goals.
These are not my ideas. After reading Mel Robbins book “Stop Saying Your Fine”, it got me thinking about the key to all success in life. These were the ideas she talked about in her book and i adjusted them as needed. We both clearly agree, the most important thing to being successful is …….
Taking Action!
Someone can be a great at learning new stuff. Someone else can be great at making all the right decisions. Some people could even have both of these 2 skills and never success in life. Why?
The biggest factor to being successful above all the others is taking action.
Knowledge and decision help you determine your goals and direction in life but action takes you there. Action turns dreams into reality.
This article is a list of rules from Mel Robbins book, “Stop Saying Your Fine”. It will get you unstuck and moving towards your life goals. I highly recommend the book and will like it here to make your next action a little easier.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails. ―St. Augustine” quote=”God provides the wind, but man must raise the sails. ―St. Augustine” theme=””]
Rule 1: Do the Things Your Brain Doesn’t Feel Like Doing.
Your brain will do everything in its power to keep you safe and comfortable. But we all know in order to improve, you need to change and move out of your comfort zone. You need to do things that will bring you closer to your goals.
This is the same proven approach that world class athletes do to succeed in their sport. A champions body will resist at first but they always push past those feelings. Then they push their body beyond its comfort zone. If they do this enough times, their body reacts and improves their abilities. They grow!
This holds true with most things in life. Your body will tell you it cannot be done. It will try its best to convince you that remaining stuck is better and change is bad.
Your brain will remind you of a million other minor tasks you can do instead. Mel calls these Anti-Actions. They are other things that detract you from your primary goals.
Instead, you need to focus on your game changer thoughts. The more you focus on these, the harder it will be for your brain to distract you with other tasks. The brain will have a harder time scaring you or reasoning with you to remain where you are. If you remain focused, you can control your brain and use its power to help move you forward and towards your goals.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to, has power over you, if you allow it.
-Leon Brown” quote=”It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to, has power over you, if you allow it.
-Leon Brown” theme=””]
Rule 2: You Never Know Where Things Could Lead. Just Do It and See.
I read somewhere that no one ever regretted the things they tried and failed at later in life. They only regretted the things they never tried.
You need to just do it NOW, if you need to adjust your directions later, that’s fine. Most people will argue that trying new and exciting things is the purpose of life so why don’t we want to try new things? It’s because of Rule #1.
It is impossible to predict the future so no one will ever really know if your idea is really good or bad.
If you think there is a good chance of success, you need to do it. You can modify your approach along the way to improve your chances of success but you just need to get started today. Waiting usually leads to regret.
As Tony Robbins always says:
[click_to_tweet tweet=”The path to success is to take massive, determined actions. ―Tony Robbins” quote=”The path to success is to take massive, determined actions. ―Tony Robbins” theme=””]
Rule 3: Use the 5 Second Rule. Act on New Ideas within 5 Seconds.
Your brain has 5 seconds to respond to a new idea before it will move on to something else. You need to jump on any new idea with 5 seconds and take some action on it, or it will get replaced with something new.
Often, we are not in a position to completely act on a new idea. This is why writing things down and scheduling stuff is so important. When inspiration or a new idea hits you, write it down and schedule time to act on it another time.
I recommend keeping a little notebook with you all the time and when a great idea hits you, take a second to write it down so you can act on it later.
If you can take partial action on a new idea, then partial progress is always better then no progress.
Mel has a whole book just on this idea and it’s called the “The 5 Second Rule“. It is a fantastic book and highly motivating in getting action on your goals.
This goes without saying that you should only act on your good ideas. If in doubt, act anyway and improve the idea along the way.
The trick is not to constantly keep moving from idea to idea without finishing. This is where scheduling is so critical. I also recommend the Getting Things Done process for better management of all your ideas.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned. – Peter Marshall” quote=”Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned. – Peter Marshall” theme=””]
Rule 4: Stop Trying to Pick One Over the Other. Try to Find a Way to Do Both.
People often get stuck deciding between 2 paths. Should I open my own business or work for someone else. Should I invest in real estate or the stock market. Often the indecision between 2 great ideas is prevents you from moving forward. Mel suggests selecting both ideas and moving forward on both.
The goal is not to multiply your work but to keep you moving forward. If you decide one path is better then the other, then replace one over the other. Just get moving on something.
I have a process I like to follow. I have 3 steps.
- Learn all I can about something
- Decide on an action once I know enough about the topic
- Act on my decision
The goal is to Learn, Decide, and Act. All 3 are necessary.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. -Tony Robbins” quote=”It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped. -Tony Robbins” theme=””]
Rule 5: Frequency Trumps Intensity.
There are countless sayings about this topic but the answer is always the same. We accomplish more with many small changes then we ever do with the big ones.
There are more millionaires that have build their fortune by saving small amounts over time. Small changes make huge differences. Someone doesn’t achieve excellence over night but through many small changes over time.
The best way to accomplish excellence in your life is to break it down into small accomplishments and work them constantly. You will see progress.
Something is better then nothing. Improve over time using daily habits.
There are several TED talks about this idea. I really liked this one and recommend you spend a few minutes watching and learning about the power of habits.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -Will Durant, 1926″ quote=”We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. -Will Durant, 1926″ theme=””]
Rule 6: Be Relentless.
We all have goals in life. Our ability to reach those goals required us to be flexible in our approach.
Life is always changing. We are always learning. Being flexible in our approach is key to reaching our goals.
Rejection is part of life. When it happens to you, just make an adjustment to your plan. We will always hit roadblocks on our journey to our goals. The key is to never give up.
Sometimes it is OK to replace one plan with another if we realize the task we are working will not help us towards our goals. We all have limited time and sometimes we need to prioritize our efforts on a better plan. Our lives are over filled with tasks and we must be able to give up on the tasks that take our focus away from the ones that really matter.
Rule 7: Brain Dump when Overwhelmed.
I am a huge fan of David Allen’s book Getting Things Done (GTD for short). He promotes the idea of completely focusing your effort and attention on your immediate tasks at hand and putting all the other things aside. To prevent you from forgetting those other items, he recommends you just write them down and schedule them later if they are important.
Remember Rule 1, your brain will do everything it can to distract you with unimportant tasks. That is exactly what this rule is about. If those other tasks are important but not as important then the task you are going now, schedule it for later and return on your original task.
I have created several articles on how to incorporate Getting Things Done in your life. They can be found on my other website TechLife101.com. I have several articles about how to incorporate GTD and other productivity ideas and tools to help you accomplish your goals.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them. ― David Allen” quote=”Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them. ― David Allen” theme=””]
Rule 8: Delegate as Needed.
If you cannot do something, delegate it.
The work must get done but not necessary by you.
There are a hundreds of things I can do (and do well) but is that a good use of my time. If I want to focus on the important things that will bring me closer to my goals, I need to delegate the other tasks to other people so I can remain focused.
I have always hated delegating tasks but just started recently moving a lot of my house chores to other people so I can focus more time on by work.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. -George S. Patton” quote=”Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. -George S. Patton” theme=””]
Conclusion
All the planning, dreaming, goal setting, and knowledge in the world will never do you any good without action. The hardest part is just taking that first step.
This article is designed to help in driving action into success. It will help you take that first step and then the next step. When you take enough steps, you build progress and progress will change your life.
I give a lot of credit to Mel Robbins book “Stop Saying Your Fine” and is a great book to get you unstuck. This book will help you take that first step and start moving you towards your goals.
Learn how to motivate yourself and do it. Success is just around the corner if you are willing to get started.
If you liked this article, please signup to the email list. Also, please feel free to leave a comment below and we can start a discussion on how to get started in your life. If you have read any books on this topic, please tell me about it. I am always looking for great new books to read.