Monday 21 January 2008

Action and Speed Creates Results

I was in Newport Beach last week meeting with my mastermind group and I was reminded how much of an impact having a great support and accountability process can help you achieve so much, so quickly.

Having reviewed our goals in the preceding couple of weeks, we arrived with great anticipation of more insight, learning and inspiration from Jack Canfield, our host, teacher and facilitator. By having us focusing on our goals for the coming twelve months Jack has quickly established a mechanism for measuring our success. We have stated our intentions and it is up to us to hold each other accountable to ensure we deliver on them.

One thing was made abundantly clear – action creates results, and if we hold the intention that anything is possible, then we will indeed take all the necessary action to reach our objectives. My view on this is that whilst I may not know “the how” at the moment in relation to some goals, getting clear on “the what” or even “the why”, will help me find small stepping stones towards what I want. Each stepping stone is then that much closer to the mountain.

Of course, just taking action does not immediately presuppose that we get the result we want. However, if we take onboard the feedback from our actions, we can correct our course and stay on target when things go a different way to that which is expected.

Taking action with speed sets successful entrepreneurs apart from those that dawdle, and therefore stay in mediocrity. In fact, the old perfectionist in me would have stopped myself taking any action at all in the past, based on the idea that it needs to be “perfect” before being started. In recent years I have come to realise that there is in fact no such thing as “perfectionism” - this is simply a convenient phrase to hide behind which allows us to sabotage our own efforts.

Small business owners and entrepreneurs have the edge in this regard. They can take action with speed, because they, unlike many larger organisations, can decide quickly and then move forward. The trick, of course, is to start small, test, measure and learn, and then continue if the strategy works.

So, my success tips this week are simply these:

1. Create focus on your goals and have them written down
2. Take action everyday towards your goals - small stepping stones to climb big mountains
3. Have a support process in place, be it a mastermind group, accountability buddy or a coach
4. Listen and learn from the feedback and correct your course when the unexpected shows up

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