Action —> Competence —> Confidence —> Success

Taking action will help increase your competence, which will give you more confidence. The more confident you are, the more likely others will be drawn to you, increasing your likelihood of success.

If you want to be successful in anything, it all starts with taking action. Whatever you are afraid of, that’s probably what you need to do. Charge towards your fears or what is difficult for you. Chances are, it’s difficult for others as well, and when you’re willing to do what others aren’t, you’ll see results that they won’t get. Take action. Ryan Holiday paraphrases a famous Marcus Aurelius quote (shown below) with the title of his best-selling book, “The obstacle is the way.”

The obstacle is the way
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” – Marcus Aurelius

If you’re afraid of prospecting for new clients, that’s probably because you are uncomfortable doing it and you need to do it. You have to take action to actually get better at it. The more you practice something, the more competent you’ll become, and the more competent you become, the more confidence you will earn.

It will be difficult to make the decision to deliberately put yourself in a position where you might fail, but you must do this. It is the only way to get better quickly. You can read or talk with others who have done it before you all you want, but eventually YOU need to take action. The sooner you realize this and start doing it, the quicker you can achieve your dreams.

Things to think about every day

1. Have I made strides towards my goals today? Did I help or hurt myself physically, mentally, spiritually, relationally, vocationally, and financially?

2. After my encounters with others, do I generally make them feel better about themselves?

3. Did I live with integrity today? Did I do the right things, say the right things, and act according to my values?

Random thoughts on leading, managing, business, and goals

One difference between great leaders and great managers is the ability to innovate. Being creative, progressive, and moving forward with new ideas is important for visionary leaders. But keeping the boat from rocking too much and making sure to implement the visionary’s ideas intelligently are key to great management. You need both to be successful…ideas are great, but if they are scattered all over the place and not aligned with the stated future overarching goal(s), and if they are changed before really being given time to succeed, the business will flounder.

Start out with a couple of great goals. Know why you want to achieve those things. Then figure out what milestones you need to hit along the way and what processes you need to develop/follow to make those milestones happen. After you achieve them (or when you’re 90%+ done), start thinking of adding new goals, techniques, and strategies that are natural extensions of your current goals. Don’t do a 180 degree turn and pivot to something completely unrelated where you have limited-to-no experience.

Being a perfectionist…

You’re not a perfectionist. You’re just scared.
“You’re not a perfectionist. You’re just scared.” – Gary Vaynerchuk

Don’t aim for perfection. To claim that you’re a perfectionist…it’s not funny, it’s not cute, it’s not admirable. Being a perfectionist STOPS you from achieving because nothing will ever be perfect. That’s why there’s a common phrase, “DONE is better than perfect.” Otherwise you’ll keep waiting for perfect and never get anything done…

If you really want to move forward and achieve your goals more quickly, you will do something to the best of your ability and submit it. After getting feedback of what worked and what didn’t, you’ll modify your actions – tweaking what did work to slightly improve it, and eliminating or changing what didn’t work. You’ll get those results back and continue the process.

The goal should be not to “never fail,” but instead to fail quickly. The word “fail” here is not meant to be permanent. If you fail and then never try anything again, then, yes, it’s a failure. But if you fail and use that information to get better/move you closer to your goals, it was actually a success.