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

Share on Facebook