When most people talk about success and how to attain it, people often think about the process of becoming successful and things such as: How long will it take to achieve my goal? How will I get there? What is my strategy?
Is true that all of these questions need to be asked in order to achieve a specific goal, but quite frankly, what is even more important is the desire and determination of taking action.
Michael Jordan spent countless hours improving his basketball game, J.K. Rowlings wrote endless pages and her first groundbreaking book got denied from over ten editorials before it got noticed; The Beatles even got told by an influential record producer, "I don't like your sound."
By looking at it from the surface, one would come to think that what made all of these people achieve success was their unyielding desire to be the very best they can be in perfecting their trade.
Although this is a big part of the equation, what really made the difference is the decision to take action.
Action, the process or state of acting or being active, is what makes it all happen.
So whether a person is trying to loose weight, be wealthy, be happy in a relationship, or even start a new business, it all starts with an action.
The process of being in a state of action is irreplaceable; Action is that one thing that makes it all possible.
When Michael Jordan spent day after day perfecting his game after being rejected from his High School basketball team, he was taking action.
When The Beatles ignored the opinions of others and continued to work toward their goals, they were taking action.
There is no question that other important qualities of success such as vision, planning, practice, and creating strategies are all necessary in order to achieve success, but the one thing that is often is overlooked is the importance of taking action.
Truth be told, all of the other moving parts of success mean nothing if action is not taken.
Too often, people waste valuable time in the planning or brainstorming stages of goal setting.
As humans, we are wired to overthink, to over analyze, and make the process of succeeding much more difficult than it really is. This is killing our ability as people to executive all of the talent and potential we have to give to the world.
So lets not wait another day to get started. Start that diet, have that coffee with a friend, go exercise, sign up for that class, start a new hobby, create a new business, whatever it is you desire, take action on it.
When one takes action, things are activated, things get moving, and most importantly, you get closer to achieving your goals.
Just remember, thinking is easy; taking action is what makes it all possible.