The Step After Effective Planning

Awhile back, I wrote an article called, 7 Effective Planning Steps. Another bee, Donna-Luisa Eversley, asked me to do a follow-up to this.

I first wanted to go back to what inspired me to write the first article. It was a quote I heard that is rumored to be by Abraham Lincoln, "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe." Those four hours of sharpening the ax can save hours of work. Planning our goals and Dreams can save us so much of our most precious asset, Time.

Now, what good are those first four hours for Lincoln if he never cuts down the tree. I feel the majority of the world falls into this category. We have dreams, and even detailed, planned dreams, yet stopped there. "A Dream with no Action is Just a Wish."

The Step I want to focus on is what I label Step 6 in that buzz, Taking Action. The first five steps are the easiest parts for everyone. Yet, this is where most people, including me sometimes, seem to stop, but why? I believe the reason is FEAR. Here is a quote that I love from Author David Joseph Schwartz, "Do what you Fear and fear disappears." No matter whether your life goals are incredibly big and daunting or fairly small and achievable, chance are you’ve thought “Where do I even begin?” more than once. We already have the plan on paper, so now it is time to take action.

So many of us are afraid of persecution, yet not from the world, but from ourselves. What controls this Fear and keeps us from moving forward is Pride and Ego. Pride is a Spiritual Cancer; it eats up the very possibility of love, contentment, and even common sense. Ego is the Pride we show to the world, and real Pride is what we keep to ourselves and keeps us from moving forward.

For example, I went through a time when I had a plan all set out, yet I refused to take action. The reason was "I was lame, and I want to blame." I wanted the circumstances of the world to change and be perfect so I could have a downhill slope for my entire life. I had a friend help me face reality and let go of my pride and took ACTION. Yet, when I took action, my window of opportunity for my plan was gone. It was now time to create a new plan, but this time take action.

But still your motivation needs to be bigger than your fear or you will never take advantage of the plan you wrote out. There are two types of motivation: inspiration and desperation. Both can be useful. Inspiration can be found in our daily associates, the books we read, and what we listen to. So choose them wisely. Desperation can sometimes be a good thing in life, yet it is more of a short burst of emotional energy. An example of this feeling is, "OH NO, What if I Don't Do this? I need to get started NOW."  You may have more energy, but it usually doesn't last as long.

Remember, consistent action is key. "Try, Fail, Adjust, Succeed." What ever your Dream, you can achieve it. I'll leave you with this, do not overthink you plans. Do that along the way. Overthinking is usually a product of underdoing. Stay in Action Mode and learn along the way. Those in Action, tend to stay in action.