Taking Action
After nearly two weeks away from my desk, I returned this past Monday 17th, but only to stare at all my modes of communication before me! I could not get myself to open any of them to start working. An overwhelming feeling of inertia began to creep upon me. Have you had that feeling? It worried me to no end! I found myself messing with this and that little activity, but the work I must do.
I moved away from the communicators, picked up the smartphone, and dashed out the house to run an overdue errand. I pondered: “What prompted this action and not the other?” No idea. It bothered me, nevertheless. After nearly two weeks away from work that I enjoy, I should have been able to plunge back into it with gusto. I had no explanation for the inertia, the laziness. It was all very troubling; the weight of it all.
As I drove I thought about what it could all mean; to be so unable to take action. But I took action! Here I am, driving to do an errand. What is preventing me from taking the other action, the action that is essential for the success of my business? What do I need to do to prevent this frightening experience from happening in the future? I had no immediate answers for all these questions, but I decided to define action for myself in order to will myself to it, back home. Here is what my mind churned out:
A - Active; Attentive, never arguing or argumentative.
C - Consistent; Competent; Committed, never careless.
T - Timely; Temperate, never tardy.
I - Incomparable; Indubitable, never insufferable.
O - Open; Observant, never oblivious or obsequious.
N - Neat; Natty, never negligent.
During the long stay away, I missed some of these important elements of taking action, substantive action, not simply movement. Yes, I was active, but the activity had no direct correlation with my program for success. I felt a sense of carelessness; a sense of tardiness; a sense of oblivion; and certainly a sense of negligence for my most important work. I might even have argued that it is okay: I will get to it. And maybe that is okay. But why the sense of guilt?
I resolved after this experience to take deliberate action that adds value to my success, even if it is just one item out of my schedule, whether home or away, every day. That is “taking action” for me.
Has such a sense of inertia ever befallen you? What did you do to will yourself into action?
Thanks for stopping to share in my musing. Please like or share below.
Awesomeness!
Mojalefa.
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I think that we at one time or another have all felt those emotions. Don't feel like you're the only one, my friend. I truly enjoyed your post thanks for sharing it with us.
I've been there. Sometimes it can stem from too many things on your mental to-do list, that you subconciously get overwhelmed, and instead of taking action, you end up doing nothing. I've found that a daily to-do list can help get you back on track. That way you have a visual list of what needs to be done, which forces you to be accountable to yourself. Checking things off the list brings a sense of accomplishment, and makes it easier to make progress, whether it be here at WA or any other business endeavour. Good Luck!
Thank you very much.
I use a to-do list too. This time it did not seem to help me. It was an unusual moment.
Thanks again for the encouraging words.
Mojalefa.
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Hey Mojalefa, thanks for posting this. I too feel that sense of inertia from time to time and I believe it can become habitual if not addressed early on, and could obviously be detrimental to our success. For me, planning out my tasks the night before helps me to stay on track for the most part. I create a text file on my computer the night before that is essentially a to-do list and follow through as best I can the next day.
By the way, I like the way you broke down the word 'action' into an acronym for traits that we all should be pursuing.
Best Wishes,
Mike
Thanks, Mike. I value your advice greatly.
That breakdown helped get back into action.
Awesomeness!
Mojalefa.