Life Rewards Action

by Kirk Miller

Years ago, I remember reading the book, “Life Strategies,” by Dr. Phil McGraw. Now, don’t worry, I am not necessarily a card-carrying member of the Dr. Phil fan club. But there was one particular principle from the book that has always stuck with me: Life Rewards Action. We can plan, strategize, visualize and ponder what we will do, but until action is taken, nothing of any consequence happens.

This is precisely why we find many highly-educated, competent and talented people who do not end up accomplishing much. On the other end of the spectrum, we find people with very little skill or talent, who simply took action and kept taking actions one step at a time, and finally achieved things many of us can only dream of.

I recently attended a sales training conference in Scottsdale, Arizona, and this timeless principle came glaring back at me once again. We know from statistical research that about 95% of people in the sales field never succeed (statistic from Brian Tracy, a well-known training and development consultant). This is alarming, considering a large number of people choose to make their living (or not) in the field of selling. One of the great lessons I took away from this Training Conference was that where the vast majority of people fail in sales (or in many other areas of life for that matter) simply because they talk themselves out of taking action. They lose the battle between their ears. They spend time thinking, planning, prioritizing and strategizing, but run out of time before they ever end up doing anything.

My wife, Lisa, is a wonderful example of action, especially when it comes to running. For years I have studied running, read up on running, analyzed running programs, and planned running schedules, whereas my wife simply gets up daily and runs. By the time I get done studying it all, I am too worn out to run. Currently she is on track to run her second marathon while I am not.

Action is the key. One of the effectiveness principles we teach in our EDGE System is prioritizing our Actions so we can execute them. There is a time and place to plan. We suggest using the Mind Sweep best practice to dream, plan and get those great ideas out of our head and into our system. But we don’t suggest living in the Mind Sweep. From there, we teach making decisions about how to group these ideas into action categories. Finally, and most importantly, we must execute on our Actions.

The moral of the story is simple…until we take action, all has been for naught and nothing happens. Use the Mind Sweep to empty your head of all you need to do, then make decisions about where these ideas go. Last, but not least….TAKE ACTION!!!