Team TNV
Our mind is the most powerful weapon in the world. It has the ability to do things unimaginable. However, we often utilize it the wrong way. In the past, and even to this day, man continues to create and destroy through innovations by the mind. But I’m not here to talk about history, war or even destruction. What I am going to speak about is the human tendency to think a million times before going out and actually doing something. Have you ever wanted to try something new and ended up listing all the negative outcomes that could possible occur to you? Well, don’t worry my friend you are not alone. In fact none of us are. Because we all go through the same thing. We as humans are natural thinkers. More so than not, we create negative outcomes more than positive ones. Not because we aren’t positive or anything. But because we like to prepare ourselves for the worst. This often leads to putting ourselves in the worst possible position mentally and therefore we do not end up taking action towards our desired goal. Let’s say you want to purchase a brand new Ferrari. It has been your dream car for a while now and you’ve been thinking about getting your hands on one for a few years now. However, you find every possible excuse not to get up and go to work. Your boss is annoying, you don’t like the people around you, you do not have enough office space etc. You are quite lazy and the attitude you display towards the journey of achieving your dream car isn’t all that pretty. So what do you do? You start to think more and work less. If you are not willing to do, the prize will not reach your hands. Visualizing is only one piece to the puzzle. By no means is ‘thinking’ something dangerous. When we think we can create some pretty amazing things too. The problem arises when we think and do not act.
When we practice something, we are involved in the repetition of a process with the intention of reaching a specific goal. The more we practice, the better we get at that particular activity. Learning something new and practicing something new may seem very similar but these two methods can have profoundly different results. When you learn something, you merely gain knowledge on how to do that particular activity. You now only have the blueprint with you but that blueprint will not come to life if you do not practice it or work on it. Let’s say your goal is to be stronger and fit. You research the best instructions on bench press or squat technique, but the only way to build strength is to practice lifting those weights consistently. We are wired to want to continue seeking information, even when we have all we need. This hinders us from taking action and we focus on gaining more information. This is exactly where the ‘thinking’ starts increasing and the ‘doing’ starts decreasing. We ask ourselves a thousand questions in our mind. What works the best? How is this technique better from the other? What are the results going to be? how much money would I make? Etc. You wouldn’t really find out until you tried, would you?
We don’t have to admit to ourselves that were scared to get started, that we’re paralyzing ourselves with perfectionism, or that we’re simply afraid to fail. No, instead we need to convince ourselves that we will take action. One of main reason why Nike is my favorite brand is because of its tag line ‘Just Do It’. Not only is it catchy and is great for marketing purposes but it also gives the audience something to look forward to and that by taking action consistently you will achieve positive results.
There are few ways and simple adjustments we can make to our lives that can cause us to take action.
1. Build a habit: when you start with a creative habit, you eliminate excuses that prevent you from doing. It becomes a part of you, which means you cannot live without it making it that much more natural to occur.
2. No distraction: you can cut down distractions in your digital life and in your physical life. With fewer distractions, you can focus on getting the job done
3. Practice self-motivation: motivate yourselves and ask yourselves what it is that is holding you back from doing. Tell yourself that with each day you will get better. Start the day with meditation or any other positive habit that will set the tone for the rest of the day making you more productive.
