Actions, Intentions and Opportunity
Today I was inspired by a article from Chris Brogan. Yea, I know ~ Whats new? Chris’ post revolved around a quote by Thomas Kempis that says, “The object of education isn’t knowledge, it’s action” Chris goes on to say, “Even if our efforts are intended to inform, what we really seek is action.” I agree with Chris in that the intention of education is to incite action by the person or people who are absorbing the information. Chris also goes on to say that in social media circles that combining passion and action can produce wonderful results. He speaks about my jump from a passionate social media enthusiast to an important figure in Best Buy. I thank Chris for this mention, however I’d like to share some principals and guides I use to help me define when to take ACTION.
Intentions are Key
For anyone that knows me they know I often speak of having the correct intentions. In my humble opinion intentions are much more important than specific goals. The set of intentions that brought me out of a dusty grimy cabinet fabrication plant to doing what I am passionate about were what I call my three guiding F’s:
(F)inancial – I am getting married in May of this year, and I had a burning desire to be able to support my new family in ways that I had never been able to do before.
(F)reedom – Yes, I work for an employer but this has given me freedoms that have never existed before. I work really hard, but I am able to pretty much set the hours I work. I am not forcing myself out the door in the morning, but rather working from my home office, making a difference and doing what I love. The day I didn’t feel an emotional difference between a Friday and a Monday was one of the best days ever!
(F)amily – I had a vision in my head of what my family looked like. I had a feeling in my heart of the way we would feel from day-to-day. However, most importantly I have a vision of how I will be able to give back to my amazing family that has supported me for all these years.
Again, the intentions are great but sustained, intention driven actions are what produces results.
Take a guided tour
For a long time I believed that the places we wanted to be, the way we wanted to feel, and the money we wanted to earn needed to be very specific and layed out like a map. I mean, I have no idea how to visit my friend Marina Martin in Seattle, but with a clear concise map I think I could pobably hop into my car and get there no problem. What is the problem with that though?
The problem with the clear concise map is that it ruins your peripheral vision. You miss things that you say later, “I wish I had seen that.” You lose out on experiences that in hind sight you wish you had done. Your goal is to get from point A to point B. Granted, if I could go meet my longtime friend Marina, I would love that! However, in the spirit of good intentions I’d probably bring a map for guidance rather than follow a specific course. I would intentionally look for opportunity to visit places and experience things that I might otherwise not ever get the chance to do again. I would let my intention of the visit guide me rather that taking the tunnel vision approach to the travel.
Action is always necessary to Achieve, but more importantly it’s the way you act that defines the results.
Opportunity is on the Periphery
Do you have a friend that is always getting the best jobs, best relationships, and money rains out of the sky on them? How in the world do they do that? Why are they so lucky? I’ll tell you why, “They have their eyes open to the opportunities that are abound” If I had set a goal to work for only one type of employer or even narrowed it down to say one employer I’d probably still be looking for a job. instead I let my intentions guide me. By having specific set of intentions I was able to turn down opportunity that didn’t fit, and ultimately select the opportunity that seemed to fit like a glove. When the opportunity arose, taking action was easy.
Never Doubt
The title speaks for itself, but the last principal I followed, and wavered on at times was to Never Doubt. This might easily be the toughest principal in the book. With reporters telling you the economy sucks, people are losing jobs, and were heading into a depression how do you find hope, much less an unwavering faith in yourself? To be honest, I cant answer that with words on a page, but I can tell you that by combining my intentions, paying attention to the periphery and having an unwavering faith in myself that I was able to make a quantum leap in a time when most say it can’t be done.
Adversity, is your cue to take action. You can either be whipped by your own storm of doubt and fail or you can take that next action that moves you into the right direction.
Take Action
Don’t be afraid to take action. Listen to your heart and throw out that tunnel vision Goal Book. You’ll get to where you need to be soon ! Let your inner roadmap guide you and enjoy the ride. There is no beginning and there is no end. Which way are you heading?
Photo Credit: CC Chapman
Keith Burtis is a social media and digital marketing professional. If you or your company are looking to REV THE ENGINE on your digital efforts contact Keith today! Specialties include: Blog design/Integration, Custom Facebook Pages, Social, Digital and Interactive Content strategies.
Comments
Keith, I’m really impressed with what you’ve done in your professional progression, but more so with the output of what you’re doing in your role with Best Buy – which pretty much proves that you were meant for the role in the first place.
I’m a strong believer in being open to those peripheral opportunities, with my only intention to be passionate about what I do. Giving up the 5 year plan (and similar ideologies) was the best thing I ever did, because it opened me up to opportunities I would have missed otherwise.
Thanks for sharing your story and keep up the great work with Remix. 
It may have felt weird for you to hit publish on this one, as you said in your tweet, but I want to thank you for posting it. I think you have a great approach to following the right path. Your words are ones that I’ll most likely return to as I’m heading out on a new path myself. It is easy to let confidence flag but I know in my gut that by staying true to those gut feelings (that “inner roadmap”), I’m also going to end up with a great fit too. Thanks for sharing this.
Marina – Wow! You said in a paragraph what I tried to say throughout this post. Thank you for contributing! I don’t know when we’ll meet, but the feeling of giving you a huge hug, and shaking Damons hand is enough drive for me. I’ll be on the west coast this summer.
Jennifer – your work with Mashable is astounding. You are the epitome of hard working and taking action. Thank you so much for the comment. You rock!
Dierdre – Three words “I have no Doubt”
Great stuff Keith – I think back to the conversation we had at the Seesmic party at SXSW about continuing your passion and the artist that your taking care in creating a piece of art vs. simple furniture. I can see how you are channeling that to what you do for the corporate life w/o sacrificing what you are continuing to do with your craft.
Sometimes it is more about flow that following a map or specific trail & I liken much of what you posted here (especially the 3 F’s) to that fluid journey.
Keep it going.
LG
James Sun Keith – I really enjoyed reading your blog post. Having a strong belief in your core principles, such as having the correct intentions or never doubting yourself, makes it *much* easier to decide what specific actions to take. Your post does a great job in describing your core values. I admire your beliefs and values, and applaud you for sharing them with the blogosphere…
James
Keith, I couldn’t agree more about keeping your eyes open along the journey (proverbial or otherwise) and being open to any opportunity that arises.
My main takeaway from Chris’s article — and something I’ve believed strongly for a long time — is that the whole point of consuming information is to DO something with it. You may not even quite know what that thing is yet — but reading 2,000 RSS feeds sitting at home and never interacting or talking with others or writing about it isn’t helpful for anyone.
I’ve got a vision board at home with some things that are important to me (including the beautiful ornament you made me, Keith!). They help keep my focus on destinations I’d like to reach, even though I’m not always sure how I’m going to get there … but by having those destinations in mind, I’m all the more open to opportunities I may find that will help me get closer.