Taking action on new knowledge is the cornerstone of success.
The difference between those who forge ahead in life and those that don't is simply this: successful people convert good ideas into powerful action, not once, not twice, but over and over. More than that successful people don't let the grass grow under their feet whilst they ponder and wait for the perfect moment.
Years ago a friend and I who were both going through a rough patch in our personal and business lives decided to attend a course to help us put things back on track. Whilst I thought the course content was going to give me life changing insights, little did I realise that the most powerful lesson I was going to learn was from my friend.
For four Tuesday evenings we attended lectures which took us through the abc's of how to create the life of our dreams. During the week between each lecture we were given 'homework' - such as spending 20 minutes a day doing a goal visualisation. I was hungry for change and made a point of doing this work. I'm not one for taking a lunch break, but during this time I remember many a lunch hour, sitting, eyes closed, under a tree, practising my exercises.
My friend was also hungry for change, but always found many reasons why he couldn't fit in the daily homework. More often than not when we met at the Tuesday session, he, with his brilliant mind, would be able to remember much more of what had been taught the previous week than me, but invariably had done virtually no homework practise.
At the end he could tell you the abc's backwards. I on the other hand, could share how difficult it was to keep your mind focussed for 20 minutes in a row. He could explain the research on mind programming. I could share how miraculously your state of being shifts after 10 minutes of positive self talk. We both attended the same course, but walked away with a completely different experience.
Over the months that followed the course I introduced dramatic and positive changes into my life using my newfound knowledge, changes that lead directly to my current desired lifestyle. My friend, sadly enough went on to experience the very opposite, loosing all his money, his marriage and falling into deep on-going depression.
The moral of the story is not that I did right and he did wrong. Nor do I stand in judgement of his choices or suggest that I understand his life problems. But what I learnt from this is the direct relationship between action and moving on and up. Without meaningful action personal growth is as difficult as bottling the South Easter. Without meaningful action getting your life to work for you is as impossible as trying to still the waves of Banty Bay.
Taking action on new knowledge is the cornerstone of success and fulfilment, and it's far better to be able to describe the mistakes you have made in trying something new, than to sprout statistics and fancy business models.
Knowledge makes you smarter,
experience makes you wiser. Knowledge changes your thoughts about life.
Experience changes your response to life. Knowledge is a collection of
ideas about life. Experience is life in action.
So this week take action, but do it like Henri Bergson says "Think
like a man of action - Act like a man of thought."
© Catherine M Glennie
