Again, this task is not drudgery. Make it fun—but avoid making others uncomfortable. Your goal here is not to become a stalker. Just pay attention to what goes on around you.
DAY
38
“Speak little, do much.”
— Benjamin Franklin
Do you talk about the great things you want to do in life but never get around to actually accomplishing them? If you want to achieve success, now is the time to put your words into action. This is the point where many individuals get discouraged. It’s fun to dream up lofty accomplishments, but when it comes to the part where you have to put in some real work, the exercise loses some of its appeal to the average person.
But you are not average. This is where you have the opportunity to separate yourself from the pack. You will find that taking action is not as tiresome as you imagine. You don’t have to do anything that requires too much sacrifice. You just have to act.
You will now break away from the crowd simply by doing. You’ve already worked on becoming a good observer. That is one type of action that will lead to success. What are other things you can do today to send you on the road to achievement?
Don’t put undue pressure on yourself. You don’t have to come up with something brilliant. Just button your lip and get off the couch. That’s a great first step. Do you have unfinished projects around the house? Pick one and do it. You will feel great when you’re finished. Don’t get overwhelmed by all of the things you’ve left undone. Just pick one job and complete it. You can worry about other stuff another day.
Your assignment today is to pick one thing around the house that you have been meaning to complete and finish it. When you’re done, congratulate yourself with something fun and a little frivolous.
DAY
39
“When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.”
— Henry J. Kaiser
You are now becoming a person of action. How does it feel? It can be quite a powerful experience. Even a little bit of work gives you a large return in the form of pride and accomplishment.
Jonathon became a man of action. He started with little tasks and stayed in motion, and soon he found he was accomplishing things he never thought possible. He even built a workroom onto his house where he could follow his dream of woodworking.
When Jonathon’s wife entered his newly-finished workshop, she gasped as she gazed around. She had always known he was quite an artist when it came to woodworking, but she had no idea he had the gumption to follow through with something like this. Jonathon started many projects in the past, but he finished very few. Just months prior, she had been badgering him to get his unfinished woodblocks off of her craft table in the basement.
“This is beautiful!” She smiled.
Jonathon hiked up his pants and looked around, busting with pride. “Yep, I thought I would start off by building you a birdhouse; then I’m going to re-do all of the cabinets in the kitchen; next, I think I’ll design and build an entertainment center for the living room . . .”
Your assignment today is to continue to be a person of action. Don’t interrupt your efforts with talk. Get back to work.
DAY
40
“A superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.”
— Confucius
Jonathon’s wife in yesterday’s story was at first impressed by his new workshop, but then she became immediately skeptical of his actions when he started to talk big about his future plans. At that point, she had only seen him carry out one project to completion. She didn’t have much evidence to suggest he would finish all of the other schemes he boasted about.
You must remember to be modest in speech even when you start to become a person of action. You will want to talk about what you’ve done, because you’re happy about your accomplishments. You are proud that you made a very important change in your life. That is a great triumph! But avoid the temptation to talk about what you’ve done. Pile up more actions instead to build your success.
Push forward in the action category, and you will be happily surprised with the results. You don’t have to tell anyone what you are doing. They will look at the evidence and realize you are someone who gets a job done. No further explanation is necessary at this point.
Your job today is to exceed in actions. Today you will avoid lethargy and stay in motion. Find out just how much you can accomplish in twenty-four hours. At the end of the day, make a list of everything you did in your notebook. How does it look? Could you have done more? This list is for your eyes only. Don’t show it to anyone else. The next day you will get back into action and keep the secret of your success to yourself.
DAY
41
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, I used everything you gave me.”
— Erma Bombeck
What a wonderful demonstration of success it would be if you could say at the end of your life that you used up every single bit of talent you possess! It would be incredibly satisfying to know that you put all of the materials you were given to good use and built a happy and fulfilling existence. Now is your chance to make that happen.
There is really no need to conserve your talents. There is absolutely no reason to wait to use the skills you have been given. Don’t save your smarts for a rainy day. In fact, you are doing yourself a disservice by not using up your talents right now and sharing them with the rest of the world. You may find that you have a treasure within you that increases the more it is given away.
When you share your gifts in a way that betters the world around you, you will be blessed with riches beyond measure. You can consider yourself an immediate success, because you have been a positive force on earth.
What do you want to be able to say at the end of your life? Do you want to say I used everything you gave me, or do you want to say, I have a little bit left over? The talents you don’t use today are wasted. Do you want to live a wasteful life or a fulfilling life? The choice is yours.
Your assignment today is to use your talents. Don’t hide them or save them for just the right moment. You have a vast supply. Share your gifts with the rest of the world.
DAY
42
“You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
This is the final day in a short series on action, and the message is simple: if you do nothing, that’s exactly what you’ll get—nothing.