How to Take Action

There's always that "next step" -- you know, that next thing you know you need to do to take your life or business to the next level. You think about it, you worry about it, and you wonder if it's really right.
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There's always that "next step" -- you know, that next thing you know you need to do to take your life or business to the next level. You think about it, you worry about it, and you wonder if it's really right.

It's not easy to take big steps in life -- and it's not supposed to be. You have to take those scary steps to make progress. Starting a business isn't about accounting, marketing, business plans and selling. It's about becoming the best person you possibly can be, so that you can take those difficult and scary steps required to make big progress in your business (or anything else that's important enough to do).

The steps you take aren't always about the result they will create. They're frequently more about the lessons you will learn, the perspectives you will gain and building the toughness to charge forward toward something that may not work out the way you want.

You might think you don't know what it is. That's probably not true. You probably know exactly what that next thing you should do is, but you're busy thinking of all the reasons why you shouldn't do it, why it might not work, and what might go wrong. We're going to talk about how to deal with all that next, so for now, just focus on that next action.

Here are three steps to taking that next big action in your life.

1. Write down all the negatives
The biggest thing holding most folks back from taking a big action is all the negatives, worries and uncertainty around it. Since those things are keeping you from taking that action, write them down. Take a sheet of paper, your phone or wherever you write stuff down and make a list of all the negatives about doing this thing.

2. Write down all the positives
Now that you got all that out of your system, let's focus on something more fun to think about. What would happen if it did work out? What if that next action got you to the next level in your business? What if it secured you a new strategic partner? What if you got a new client? What if you got funding? What would that do for you? How would your life be different? What could you do then that you can't do now? Think hard about this and write as much as you can about how fantastic that would be.

The key is focusing 10 times more on the positives than the negatives. Most folks spend all their time focused on the potential negative outcomes instead of the positives. Every time you sit at a stoplight, wait for your dry cleaning, or anything else that leaves your mind idol, think about what it will be like when you are at the next level in your life.

3. Do the thing
Yeah, it's that simple. The thing probably isn't nearly as hard as you're making it because you are probably intensely focused on the negatives. That's why you puked it out onto paper and then spent ten times more time writing out the potential positives.

Will it work? I don't know, and you don't either. You're not trying to "get it to work", you're doing what you know is the best next action you know right now. Just "doing it" is all you have to worry about. Your goal is not for it to work, but for it to make you better. If it works, you'll make progress, and that's great, but if it doesn't, it's actually even better. It will make you into someone better.

Go do something.

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