I have this tendency to ingest. This internal consumerism. I read and read and read and learn. Then I read more. Then I listen to podcasts, and read more. I then do some more of that. I have read countless, innumerable articles on the way to grow your business. I have listened to an ungodly number of podcasts; interviews with world class performers who generously spill their secrets for the entire audience. I have done all of this, for years, and I most want a nap.
Action is the tough part. It’s what sets apart those people who actually accomplish things from those who read about those people who accomplish things. This is not to say you must rush something. In fact, you shouldn’t rush things. You should take the time required to learn what you need to learn, but you must not forget to act, lest you become simply an observer. You can chalk these things up with being lazy or disinterested. You can tell yourself that you simply don’t have a passion for what you do, sure, but the world still moves. It still lurches forward while you sit on the sidelines watching it do so. For some, that may be just fine. Non progress for some, is a form of progress. But that’s a trap as well. If you continue to simply consume, and you fail to create anything, you’ve essentially taken an easy route. Action begets action, so even if you don’t quite know what you should do, you should do something anyway.
There are caveats to this. Investments need only time. You must not do a thing. You merely need to let them compound and do their thing and never touch them. The same goes for health. You should take the same steps over and over again and not tinker too much (though, by definition, there is action there.) You must allow yourself large periods of time to simply sit and think. Same goes for enjoying the moment. None of these things require much from you. For everything else, though, there is action. Action can be tiny. It can be an email or a call or a letter or a gift. It can be a walk or a swim or a run or a journal entry or a dinner. But an initial action must be taken. We often allow ourselves the runway to say “I just need to research this a bit more” and, at some point, that becomes a license to sit and simply consume. At some point, you must enter the arena. Best to do that sooner rather than later. Even without a plan.