Take Action Today Part 1: How to Get Started Doing the Things You Want

“You can't win unless you first begin. So start now.” — Robin S. Sharma.

Hey. Drew here. 

You see people around you being motivated to do what they’re doing.

People taking action.

People succeeding.

You’d like to do the same, right?

Whether it’s a personal project, a startup, a business idea… Whatever.

Today, we'll explore how you can get started doing just that.

So, first, you must understand the difference between motion and action.

Motion is the process of planning, preparing, researching and doing the groundwork that comes before actually taking action.

Motion itself isn’t inherently bad.

However, if overdone, it stops you from doing the important thing. The thing that will drive results (or failures).

And that is taking action.

So, when you’re planning, researching, preparing, asking questions, etc. you’re in motion.

You’re doing things, but they won’t have an outcome. 

The reason it’s so attractive is that, despite not having any potential outcome, it helps you prevent the thing you'd like to avoid: failure.

It allows you to FEEL like you’re making progress, without actually doing so.

Action, on the other hand, is doing the thing.

If researching designs is motion, actually hunting products and running ads to your E-com store is action.

And, taking action is simple:

1. Set a schedule.
2. Pick a date to shift from motion to action
3. Choose to take action, rather than ‘putting things into motion.’

“Honestly Drew, if it was really that simple to do, I would have done it already. I wouldn’t be here, reading this and trying to figure out HOW to take action. Y’know?”

This is just the start.

Hopefully, you’ll have a better idea of how to go about doing things with just these three steps as we explore things further.

And the basis of taking meaningful action? Setting goals. Proper goals.

When it comes to setting goals, there are four stages:

1. Having a strategy to define them.
2. Breaking them down into actionable steps.
3. The preparation stage.
4. Dealing with procrastination. (we’ll discuss this next time)

Before you can even get started, you need to be clear on what you want to do.

Start thinking about what you want to do. 

What do you want to achieve? What’s the end goal? What’s your objective here?

Get things out of your mind and onto paper, an online notepad, or a document file.

Just offload things.

“Uh, Drew? Isn’t this what we’re supposed to NOT be doing? Ie being in motion?”

Motion is important. It helps set the foundation.

However, being stuck in motion is the thing you want to avoid doing.

“Got it. Back to you.”

Cool. So, once you’ve offloaded things from your mind…

And offloading means everything. From writing out the ideas you’ve got and the rough actionable steps…

To the doubts and ‘I can’ts’  causing you to hesitate from taking the next step…

To the reason(s) behind wanting to do it, as well as the benefits.

Put everything down, so that you have something clear and relevant to work with.

Now that you’ve got everything down, from your goals to your potential roadblocks…

Break those goals down into small, bite-sized actionable steps.

Suppose you want to set up an online software business.

Your end goal?

Selling services which include everything from troubleshooting, checking for, and fixing bugs to doing custom software projects using a variety of different methods and programs.

However, that’s not something you can simply sit down one day and do.

You'll have to make some important decisions. Just like we covered above.

Then, you'll have to figure out where to start.

Website, registration, content creation, cold emailing, hunting leads…

All of these are things that can be worked on. 

Things that are actions, rather than simply motion.

Things that’ll drive you TOWARDS your end goal, which is to have a software business.

So, that’s what you want to do.

You want to focus on working towards having steps that will help you achieve those objectives.

It’s really simple actually. 

Separate each goal from the list. Then, list down the smaller related actions, steps, and points.

Then, simply move on to the next goal, until you've done this for each goal.

By this time, you’ll have your major goals, with steps and things related to each of them listed below them.

That'll not only help make things clearer but will also give you direction on how you can get started.

Also, having each potential or related activity will help you identify where the roadblock may occur and how you can work toward solving them.

So, let’s recap.

By now, you’ve got everything listed out...

From your roadblocks and potential problems and why you want to do something...

to the goals, with their related actions and points.

Now? It’s about preparing before you take action.

Taking action is generally always the most daunting step.

A good example of this? Public speaking.

It feels daunting, at least in the beginning, to probably everyone who tries their hand at it.

It could be as simple as making announcements in front of a familiar crowd.

However, once you do it and go up on stage and speak, you’ll probably realize that it’s not that hard.

However, doing a bit of preparation can go a long way

Just like it can when it comes to taking action.

So, first of all…

Remember to focus on action, not analysis or the outcome.

Just do things. Literally.

Just get started. Don’t get caught up overdoing ‘ a bit more research’ or ‘going over notes’.

No. simply get started with those action items you laid out and, as you get stuck, resolve problems on the way.

Secondly, make sure you schedule things.

Your resources, such as your time, energy, and focus, are limited.

So, it’s only in your best interests to make sure you allocate them wisely and put them to the best use.

Scheduling does two things for you:

1. You go from having a soft deadline (“Yeah, I’ll get it done, no probs”) to having a hard deadline( eg. Due 11:32 pm on Sunday next week). That gets you into action because now you’ve got to get it done.
2. You are reminded whenever you review your tasks in your Calendar. That way, it stays top of mind, and you can't simply 'forget' to do it.

Sure, have some margin for any issues you have. Things happen.

However, try to use that time for the purpose you allocated it for.

Thirdly, take action when and how you are comfortable taking action.

Enjoy doing work early in the morning, before sunrise?

Do that.

Like to crank the temperature down and enjoy the chills while typing away?

Do that.

Do what you have to so that you leave no excuse for yourself to get distracted.

Water bottle? Keep it by your side.

Exercise? Make sure it’s scheduled, so you won’t forget.

Chores? Schedule them as well.

Give yourself no excuse.

It’s hard enough to get started. A simple break in focus and attention, and you risk significant downtime.

And finally, make sure you incentivize yourself to get things done.

Have some of your favorite snacks nearby.

Or, allocate a couple of minutes of ‘scheduled recharge time’ where you can simply take a break and relax.

That’ll help you focus on your work better, as well as motivate you to look forward to those periods of ‘downtime'.

(Hey, even five minutes isn’t bad. Better than nothing right?)

We’ll discuss how you should go about dealing with procrastination next time but…

Remember to obsess about action over perfection. Unless you try, you won’t have something.

And without anything, it’s impossible to perfect it.

Anyway, if there’s some way I can help, or if you’ve got any questions, feel free to let me know and we'll see what we can work out.

Keep at it. See you next time.

Drew.