Yesterday I tweeted a couple of thoughts on Twitter leading to an explosion of retweets but also questions, reactions and ideas. I thought I’d put them here on the blog too, in the hope they might help to kickstart your week!
So many of us wait for opportunity to knock on our door. Most successful ppl are prolific door openers & don’t wait for knocks [tweet this]
Sometimes, I find myself giving myself permissions to be ‘passive’ in my blogging (and life) and ‘hope’ that good things might happen to me – that opportunity might come knocking.
However, the reality is that almost every time a good thing has come my way, it was the result of me taking some kind of small action.
I’m a fairly reserved and shy person. I don’t like to push my way into situations or force things to happen. However, over the years I’ve learned that by taking action to push doors open (even if only a tiny creak) I often find the opportunity waiting for ME!
Many times SUCCESS is more about DOING the things you know you should do, not learning the ‘secrets’ that you don’t know [tweet this]
I’m a firm believer that bloggers who’ve been blogging for more than few months already know 90% (if not more) of what they need to know about blogging successfully.
Of course, there are always new things to learn about writing, technology, techniques for finding readers etc but the fundamentals of blogging have not really changed over the last 10 years.
The challenge is DOING those fundamental things, consistently and at a high quality, over the long haul.
I like this response to my tweet yesterday by Jacqueline O’Donnell:
“It’s a bit like healthy eating and exercise really… but the ‘shiny’ secrets & promise of shortcuts has a lot of pull power :-)”
I think this is spot on.
Most of us have enough knowledge of how to be fit and healthy. We understand that a modest, balanced and nutritious diet along with regular exercise will result in a healthy body. Yet so many of us struggle to actually apply the things we know. SO many of us are drawn to look for the latest silver bullet diet or program that will solve our issues.
Knowledge isn’t bad – but gaining it is a waste of time if it doesn’t lead to action!
I must agree with you, we have to open the door ourselves, not wait for somebody to knock at our door, because that is most likely not going to happen.
I am passive sometimes too, but then I realize that it’s not good to stay passive. So I start working.
The time spent on seeking out tactics and “secrets” can be channeled to creativity and actually building something. However, that seems rare.
Totally agreed with you, Darren.
That’s the reason why most tips/guides of the self-help/self-improvement books are common sense. Just that most of the time we tend to believe that there bound to be some “secret” that can turn to for success.
Thanks for sharing….
“Knowledge isn’t bad – but gaining it is a waste of time if it doesn’t lead to action”. I think you really hit the bulls-eye with this quote. Regardless of how much knowledge you acquire it’s always about the initiative and the action.
Thanks for the quick motivation.
Yes Darren,
Most of us know most of the things we should know. But the problem is that we don’t take any action on those.
Another fact is that, after learning a new thing, we think, that is simple. When the secret of a magic is exposed to us, we think, that is simple and anyone can do it and we start to avoid the art behind that magic. But this simple thing overwhomed us a few minutes ago.
For me, when I learn a new technique in civil construction, I think that is simple and everyone knows that. But the reality is most of us don’t know that technique.
hey Darren
I always tell me students to be men of action… look around you, the entire existence is a living mechanism… flowers blossom, birds sing, forests breathe… they aren’t waiting for somebody else to do it for them…
Best!
I am say you have mentioned the perfect points which every blogger must think.Newbie blogger like me are facing all such situations , but still are so many things we learn each and every day..And after reading all your article we get the perfect guidance..Thank you so much for sharing.
Action is the key to jump starting anything, and most time it’s something small you need to do – make a phone call, send an e-mail or just mentioning something that needs. So, I commit to taking at least one action daily to get me closer to my goals.
Opportunity doesn’t wait for no one! You grab it whilst you can! In an ideal World, we wouldn’t need a kickstart because would be so proactive already! :)
Perhaps this is the lesson I have learnt over the years, a liitle action leads to more actions and more actions better result.
helpful!!!
Some times we focus so much on the theory of success that we fail to see that theory without action is useless.
I’m second to what you say that the challenge is DOING fundamental things consistently. It’s not always easy especially when we’re tempted to try easier alternatives that haven’t been proven yet.
This reminds me of some words of wisdom I heard some time back, about the fact that those who succeed aren’t necessarily the smartest, but they’re the ones who take ‘massive action’. The key question for me, then, is “what action”? Which actions are going to bring you results? I think bloggers sometimes come unstuck because they end up ‘doing’ an awful lot – guest posting, commenting, tweeting and facebooking themselves to death – but still don’t achieve their goals, because their actions aren’t sufficiently focused and smart.
Hi,
I totally agreed! I’m knocking every possible door to find the opportunity. Laying back, waiting passively may not lead anywhere. Active is the key to win.
Thanks
SC
the more diligent, the more luckier you are