5 Simple Reasons For Inaction and What You Can Do About It

In the summer of 1963, a young woman walked out of her job in protest of what she perceived as the ill-treatment of women in the workplace.

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Not knowing what to do next, she decides to write a book to help women start businesses. As fate would have it, she put into practice some of what she talked about in her book.

Today, Mary Kay Cosmetics began in 1968 by Mary Kay Ash, is a multi-million dollar business selling women’s cosmetics.

[shareable cite=”Dave Freudenthal”]Inaction may be safe, but it builds nothing [/shareable]

So what is stopping you from taking action on your ideas?

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I did a bit of reflection on this myself, and I came up with some of the reasons for my inaction and what I have done or am still doing to overcome my self-imposed limitations.

#1. You are scared of launching out from your safe and secure place.

You have every reason to be afraid. What you think is an excellent idea might prove otherwise when tested in the real world.

Here is a quote which I would like you to consider:

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy ~ Dale Carnegie

The good news for you is that you do not need to leave your secure job to take action on your ideas. You can start small. Work on your thoughts at night, freelance to test your ideas.

Put your spare time to good use by taking action to implement your ideas. As you see the results, you grow in confidence. You will now have the courage to spend more time in the development and implementation of your ideas.

#2. You do not have the experience, knowledge or ability to carry out your idea

My next entrepreneurial venture is in an area for which I do not have the specific domain experience. So I started up conversations on this topic at every opportunity until I found knowledgeable people in the industry.
There is also the vast reservoir of knowledge that is available at the click of a mouse. There are many online forums, industry specific events and your future competitors whom you can talk to, visit their premises or visit their website.

You do not have to reinvent the wheel. Many others have done what you want to do. So go out and find them and learn from them. They will only be too eager to talk about their experiences. Some books and courses teach just about everything. But then head knowledge is never going to be enough. You need at some point, to sum up the courage to take action on your ideas. Here are a few things you can do:

Break down your big idea into smaller steps until you get to the logical next step.
Start taking small steps of actions. Make the phone call, visit the competitor’s site and attend the trade show,
You do not need to be experienced to do something. You need to do something to gain the experience.
Experience comes from the actions that you take, So act now to get the experience.

#3. Waiting tor the right time

Indeed time and timing is an important part of your success. Yet most of the time, it is only with the benefit of a hind site that you realise the boost in which your timing gave to your idea.

So here is a simple solution.

Have a bias for action and then promptly take action.
Remain flexible and be ready to make detours and change direction as more information becomes available.
If things do not work out as planned, re-evaluate your progress. Carry out the necessary adjustments or bringing the whole project to a halt.
There is never going to be the right time. The only time you have to take action is now.

#4. Too busy – Maxed out in your current work

[shareable cite=”Todd Stocker”]I wanted to figure out why I was so busy, but I couldn’t find the time to do it[/shareable]

If you are too busy, then you cannot take on new projects. You cannot take on new clients, and you cannot learn new skills.

There was a time in my life when I was working too hard. My days filled with moving from one crisis to another. No time to think, no time to plan and no time to learn new skills.

The real question you need to ask yourself is that – Is what I am doing at the moment the best use of my time? What does my day cost?

If I were to employ myself, how much would I be willing to pay for an hours work?

As I attached some monetary value to my time, I knew what to stop doing, what to delegate and what to outsource.

So I took action and stopped doing some things, spent some time breaking down my work into smaller pieces so that it was easier to delegate.

You will also need to get comfortable with doing nothing while those around me are running around being busy.

There is always the tendency to create space or margin in one’s busy life and then to fill up that time with more work.

We all have twenty-four hours in a day, and there is only so much you can do in the available time. So you need to find and develop time management skills.

Be protective of your free time
Learn to say no with a smile
What you don’t do is as important as what you do
Reflect on your daily routine
Outsource or delegate some of your everyday tasks

Remember that you are the one person with the most vested interest in your success. Don’t be too busy to plan your year and future.

Create thinking time in your busy schedule and take the necessary action to protect your thinking time.

#5. No one to encourage or inspire you to take action

I have come to realise that apart from a few outliers who can self-motivate, the vast majority of us need to have the right people around us to inspire, encourage and motivate us to action.

That’s why some people get paid a lot of money to give motivational speeches to say things everyone knows about but do nothing.

But you can increase your chances of success by finding an accountability partner. This is someone you make yourself accountable to for taking action.

Make yourself accountable

Find and make yourself accountable to someone.

There are many ways to find an accountability partner. You can get a friend or family member or you can hire a coach. Click here to get the accountability partner options infographics.

Here is a question, who are you accountable to for doing what you said you would do?

Maybe you don’t need anyone around you to inspire and encourage you to action. You are one of the few self-motivated. That’s great.

But if you have ideas, goals and plans for action that you have not done anything about, then consider getting yourself an accountability partner.

Ideas To Action Webinar

Everything starts with an idea, and you have the capacity to generate lots of ideas. You can also find plenty of ideas online for just about anything you can imagine. Yet people fail to act on their ideas, and the world ends up missing out on the unrealised potential.

You can make a difference in your life and in the world around you by being that person who takes action on his or her idea.

[callout]Join me on Thursday 12th of January 2017 for this free webinar ‘From Ideas to Action’. I will be sharing some of my tips on how to become an Ideas To Action person. Click to secure your place on the webinar.[/callout]

Move from inaction and learn to make your ideas a reality.