The Attraction of Action

Why do we come to sites like this?
And attend workshops, seminars and lectures?
And read self-help books.
And go to therapy?
And spend money on life-coaches?
And trainers?
And gym memberships?
And all kinds of pills, powders, potions, programs, gizmos and gadgets?

We do it (hopefully not all of it!) because we want… different.
Something else.
Something better.
Better than what we have or experience now.
We want more.
And of course, more means different things to different people.

But I think it’s fair to say that we all want to experience positive change in some area of our life or existence.
Our finances, our career, our health, our relationships, our spiritual life; it’s individual.
You know what it is for you.

And when we step away from the personal-development fluff, the feel-good jargon and emotional melting pot that is… you (and me), how do we create real change?

That is, be forever different?

Not some temporary change or short-term phase (sound familiar) but a totally different reality.
When we stop looking for the short-cuts and quick fixes and we start to look for long term, life-changing solutions.. what do we find?

When we objectively and methodically study high achievers (how they think, live, choose, behave), we find several common denominators.

I’ve already discussed a few of them on this site:

1) They are adaptable (our world and everything in it is dynamic, ever-changing… therefore to thrive we need to be adaptable).
2) They have an exceptional attitude (by choice).
3) They consistently choose to deal with discomfort (as they understand that’s how we develop skills and strength). They will do what most people won’t. When most people are saying “nuh; too hard”.. they’re just getting fired up.

And today I’m going to add another ingredient into the success recipe.

Successful people are proactive; they do stuff.

While others are thinking, talking, waiting… they’re doing.
They consistently take action.
Whether it’s convenient, easy, comfortable, practical, popular or not… they always find a way.. to do.

And as someone much smarter than me once said:

“Wisdom lies not in the amount of knowledge acquired but in the degree of its application.”

We all know a lot.
(Well, enough anyway).
But many of us don’t do.. a lot.

A couple of short stories:

Story one.
I remember my first ever run.
I was fourteen, I was desperately unfit and I weighed ninety kilos (two hundred pounds).
And as you would imagine, I was a chick-magnet.
Hot.
I ran one lap of the soccer field across the road from my house and I nearly died.
Then I walked home.
Slowly.

Every week at my school we were required to complete a compulsory five kilometre (three mile) cross-country run.
I was too fat and unfit, so I walked.
Every week I came last out of about one hundred and thirty kids in my year; always great for the self-esteem.
I was nothing, if not consistent.
Pretty, no.
Consistent, yes.

Even though that first run nearly killed me, I felt a sense of achievement.
The next day I dragged my chubby little self back to the same field and took my sore muscles around for another lap.
I repeated this ritual every day.
I didn’t tell anyone; I was too embarrassed.
Over the months my distances and my confidence increased and my weight decreased.
My daily run progressed from a painful four hundred metres to an exhilarating twenty kilometres (twelve miles) at times.
I lost thirty kilos (sixty six pounds) in five months.
What started off as a painful, daunting experience, turned out to be a life-changing, paradigm shifting, mind-blowing thrill ride for the fat kid.

I loved to run.
And my body loved me for it.
And my mind loved what was happening, not only physically, but emotionally and socially also.
Yep, there was a lotta love goin’ on for little Craigo.
And not being socially-invisible was nice too.

Even today I am so glad that I decided to take that first painful run.
Some short-term pain definitely led to some long-term gain for me.
I am so glad I decided to take action.

Story two.
As you may or may not know, I began working as a personal trainer in 1987 after working in a range of teaching and instructing roles in gyms for about five years.
Within six months, my personal training work had overtaken all my other work in terms of income and the investment of my time and energy.
I loved the work and I could see that there was huge potential in it.
It was fun, it gave me great pleasure, it was financially attractive and it (personal training, the profession) had not been established at all in this country.
Personal training centres did not exist at all.
After training my clients in a busy commercial gym for a year (not always the ideal environment), I decided that the way to go was for me to set up my own centre; no members, no memberships, no crowds, no waiting for equipment, no mess and no meat-heads staring at my female clients.

By the end of 1989 I had a clear picture in my mind of what Australia’s first personal training centre would look like.
I had visualized it, planned it and researched it.
A lot.
Just hadn’t done it.

There was just a few small but terrifying issues I had to contend with; the signing of the five-year lease, the spending of every cent I had in the world (and a bit more), overcoming the critics who said it wouldn’t work, dealing with my commitment issues (re the five-year lease)… and of course there was the paralyzing fear that kept me awake at nights wondering how the ex-fat kid, with zero business experience, no college degree (at that stage) and no management skills or experience could make this all work.

Sometimes it was hard to differentiate between the fear and the logic.
“Am I just being fearful or is this a reasonable, logical concern”.. I would ask myself every day.

For months I fluffed around talking to real-estate agents, equipment suppliers, business owners and a range of ‘experts’.
I learned that if you ask ten experts one question you’ll get sixteen different answers… that didn’t really help.
I also learned that sometimes you gotta trust yerself and figure some stuff out on your own.
I think we often don’t trust our gut enough.
In my head I knew it would work but because of fear I kept finding (very logical) reasons to wait.
To do nothing.

By the time I signed that lease I had been visualizing, planning and researching forever.
Seemed like it anyway.

I remember ordering the equipment and signing the lease all in the one day; it was the scariest day of my life.
And the most liberating.
Strangely, I slept well that night.

As soon as I overcame those emotional and psychological hurdles all the practical stuff started to fall into place.
As soon as I determined to be more proactive and less reactive, things started to happen.
Sure there were challenges but it was like I went from being a kid to an adult in one day.
I had to deal with things, so I did.
I had to make it work… so I always found a way.
When before, I often found an excuse.

As painful and as terrifying as that process was at times for me, I could never have imagined how much joy, personal and professional growth, learning and satisfaction would come from it.
The opportunities that have arisen (directly or indirectly) from the action I took and the commitment I made that day never cease to amaze me.
I am so glad I got off my ass, dealt with my fear and committed to be a person who would consistently take action and do what needed to be done.
I didn’t know it at the time but that day (the lease-signing day) was the genesis for an amazing, crazy, wild, incredible, fulfilling ride for me.
And just think… I nearly didn’t do it.

Today my business in Brighton is the biggest and busiest personal training centre in the country and one of the busiest in the world.
I’m so glad I actually did something.
I’m so glad that I signed that lease and stopped waiting, procrastinating, rationalizing and ‘planning’.

I don’t share this story with you to impress you… but rather to impress upon you what average, ex-fat kids (normal people) can do when they are proactive.
When they ‘get busy’.
When they get off their ass.

In my work I am fortunate enough to meet some amazing people from all walks of life and at all stages of their journey.
One of the things which always strikes me about high-achievers is that they are always doing.
Always getting stuff done.
They are all about taking action… “talk less, do more”.. one of my friends always tells me.

So what’s the attraction of action for me?
It forces me to grow and learn.
It produces results.
It produces change.
It produces amazing… and I love amazing.

Yes, we make mistakes.
Yes, we get hurt periodically.
And no, it ain’t always fun.
But for the most part, it’s incredible.
And it’s a shit-load better than dying with our music still in us.

Can I speak like that?
Apparently.

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