Take ACTION Now

The Buddha tells a story of a man who was shot with a poison arrow. When the physician wanted to remove the arrow to save the man’s life, he protested, and told the doctor that he first needed to know who shot the arrow, what distance it was fired from, what wood it was made from and how many feathers it contained. While he was thus analyzing his fate, he died.

Why do people procrastinate and analyze, instead of taking action? Because they are either cowards who are looking for an excuse not to take action, or they are leeches, waiting for winners to act so they can ride on their backs. Procrastination is the assassination of motivation. The longer you wait, the more reasons you will find not to take action. Same goes for paralysis of analysis.

General George Patton was a man of action. He said, “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” He took massive, uncompromising, consistent action – and he won. He was fearless, determined, and focused, and so he HAD to win. He said, “Nobody ever defended anything successfully, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.”

Stand still in one place long enough and you’ll get run over by the freight train of progress and change. Patton said, “Fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of man.” He was right. While you’re getting comfortable and resting on your fat laurels, your competition is working and taking your market. The good General said, “Go forward until the last round is fired and the last drop of gas is expended...then go forward on foot!"

When I have losers tell me how “lucky” I am, I remind them of this famous quote:
“The heights of great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight –
But they, while their companions slept
Were toiling upward in the night.”

WORK. Get off your lazy backside and take action – NOW. And don’t stop until you WIN. There are only two kinds of people in this world – those with a backbone and those with a wishbone – the gutsy ones take action. They don’t wait for perfect circumstances – they act with what they’ve got, and they become unstoppable. The universe rewards action.

Robin J. Elliott www.DollarMakers.com