The Simplest Recipe for Success
ACTION = RESULTS = KNOWLEDGE = POWER = SUCCESS
I must warn you that in this post I am going to use politics and football to make a point. But, it's all in good fun, and it's an ideal that seems so obvious. Yet somehow it is overlooked even by the biggest power players in our country.
A couple of days ago while driving and listening to talk radio I was as frustrated as others, on both sides of the aisle, that were calling in bashing the political climate in America. Nothing I could write would ever fix the issue at hand, and I avoid politics in general especially at the dinner table. I am a southerner living in the Northeast now for 25 years, but blood runs deep, and I recognize even in conversations with my own close knit family that there is no way to convince somebody they are wrong about something they can feel in their bones. Being from the South I have some strong convictions, but I'll admit that my time in the Northeast has proven to me that there are a lot of things wrong with the mindset of some people who never leave their small town. If you travel, and experience different climates, people, and cultures on a regular basis, then you definitely get to see the world from a different perspective. So, I am caught in between, but there is one thing I do see that is the big problem at hand when it comes to moving the country forward, and it directly relates to every other aspect of business, and life in general as well.
Instead of choosing sides, I am hoping we can find a way to agree on something, and that something takes root in the word ACTION. Now, "let me be perfectly clear" in the words of President Obama, that I do not agree with everything the President does. In fact I get frustrated just thinking about it. But, what I do give the President kudos for is that he takes ACTION. I bring this up because ACTION is all that matters when it comes to moving the ball forward in business, on the sports fields, in dating, in love, and anything else you can possibly think of. ACTION gets RESULTS you can learn from, which helps you navigate troubled waters. Without action you will never see the next logical step appear before your eyes, much less the solution to a big problem.
What frustrates me about congress is the lack of actual action on big issues. They say things like "change just for the sake of changes isn't good." I wholeheartedly disagree 100%! Change, or Action = Results = Knowledge = Power. It doesn't always equal the result you wish for, but it moves the ball and gives you the power to understand the next step you need to take. Sometimes it moves it forward, sometimes you make a mistake and get a penalty and it moves it backwards. But, doing nothing just pisses off the fans in the stands. You can't just sit on the ball field, refuse to play, and expect fans to cheer you on. However, if you play the game with your heart we can see it, and chances are we will show up at your next game in support of your efforts. I would love to see Congress take a different approach, and take action on big issues. We don't expect perfection, but get in the game so the ball gets moved and we can assess the situation and make better plays as we learn from results.
Whether you are running a company, or the greatest country in the world, action matters most because you absolutely must have results in order to learn what works, and what doesn't. You absolutely must have results to know what the next logical step must be. You don't have to agree with the play itself to have a hand in making it work. You may be correct in your assessment as well. Maybe the play wasn't the best idea! But, at the very least you have results that you can work with, and use them to find a stronger solution. When you take action you can see the next step clearly even if you can't see all the way to the end zone.
The big topics such as health care reform, immigration, campaign finance reform, Iran, clean energy, etc... are far too complex to comprehend for anyone in the human race. But, refusing to focus on them, or sweep them under the carpet, is absurd because we the people elected you to find a solution. This holds true for your own personal problems or business issues at hand. You are the leader of your life, and if you refuse to take action on big issues you simply will not succeed.
As people, we can't always see solutions clearly, and may be overwhelmed by the big picture. But, if you take steps, or actions towards your ultimate goals you learn and grow towards your dreams. I think we all want the same things... World peace, a good life, a clean planet, and to leave the world, and America in a better place than we found it for future generations. In order to make these things happen we have to take action or, "change just for the sake of change", and in doing so it's important that we make mistakes along the way we can learn from because it empowers us.
If we, in our own companies, acted the way congress does with every challenge we would be out of a job in months, not years. This post may be political in nature, but it isn't about bashing the President, or bashing congress for that matter. Rather it's about something I know deep in my own bones, and that the simplest recipe actually works ACTION = RESULTS = KNOWLEDGE = POWER = SUCCESS.
