6 Rules for Taking Action to Create the Life You Want

Why go all-in on your dreams in 2021.

Have you ever felt frustrated that your life wasn’t going anywhere?

On the outside, things may look pretty good for you. You have checked all the boxes of what you are “supposed” to do in your life, but you still feel something is missing. As you go through the daily grind, you feel more stuck and more empty inside. You have dreams and goals, but the gap between where you are and where you want to go looks impossible to cross.

The answer to most of the problems you face isn’t more planning, studying, or more thinking about what you should do. The answer is taking more action.

Ernest Hemingway said, “Never confuse movement with action.” What he meant was don’t mistake busyness for getting things done. For example, performing endless amounts of research before starting a business is a movement. Getting a good idea, hiring a coach or mentor, and starting the business is action.

With that in mind, here are six rules for taking action to create the life you want. Refer to them often for motivation as you pursue your goals.

Action is Less Expensive Than Inaction

Taking action is costly. Sure, there is the monetary cost, but there is also the cost of your comfort.

For a long time, I feared taking action to be a writer because doing so would mean I had to invest in myself. What if the product or education I bought wasn’t worth the money I paid for it? I feared investing in my education to become a better writer wouldn’t make me any more successful. I thought I could figure it all out by myself.

Since I didn’t take action and invest in my growth, I lost money instead of making money by making mistakes I could have avoided.

You may fear taking action because it will cost you time, money, security, or comfort. But I can promise you the upfront cost is nothing compared to the long-term cost of remaining stagnant and the gnawing frustration with the direction of your life.

The formula is simple: take action, evaluate your action, make adjustments to your action, then take action again.

Action Gives You Motivation

You won’t feel like exercising until you start today’s workout. You won’t feel like writing until you are pounding away at the keyboard. Motivation follows action.

“Whatever you can do or dream you can begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it!” –Goethe

Most people get it backward. Do not wait for motivation to hit you before taking action because if you do, you will never be consistent. If you do not build your business, save your money, eat healthier, or spend time with your significant other consistently, you can not hope for success.

Start now, and the motivation will come like magic.

Action is Painful

What if you take action and fail?

Trying and failing is better than not trying at all. If you try to fail, at least you know what does not work. Yes, it might be painful and embarrassing. But remember, anyone who laughs at your failure is only trying to make themselves feel better about their own failures.

What if you take action and succeed? That can be painful too.

The pain that comes with growth is acute, like the muscle pains you feel after working out. When you move toward your goals, people around you will notice and respond in different ways. Some will be happy for you, while others will sense you are changing and try to discourage you. Why does this happen? Because you remind them too much of what they are unable or unwilling to do themselves.

Action is Cleansing

The frustration you have with your life will subside when you take action.

Orienting your life toward a goal and giving it everything in you is like a pressure washer for your insides. It cleanses your feelings of purposelessness and emptiness.

Taking action creates variety in your life, it washes out the old and fills you with new clarity and purpose.

Action is redemptive.

Action Simplifies Your Life

Inaction creates analysis paralysis. You have too many options and don’t know which one to choose. Taking action forces you to choose a path, a strategy, or a plan and cut off everything else.

You can not pursue multiple courses of action and expect to be successful. It is impossible to climb the corporate ladder and go full-time working as an artist at the same time. You will end up divided and unable to succeed at either endeavor. When you choose a path and take action, things being to fall into place.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.” -W.B. Murray

Taking action leaves fewer grey areas and simplifies your decision-making. Your primary question will be: If I do this, does it get me closer to my goal?

Action creates simplicity, and even though it’s scary, you will gain a certain amount of peace by cutting off other options. Do not worry if things don’t work out, you can always go back and pursue another course of action later.

Action is How You Defeat Resistance

Resistance is the impersonal force of self-sabotage that afflicts anyone attempting to grow. Steven Pressfield named this force and says the only way to defeat it is by taking action every day.

Make no mistake, when you take action, you will face Resistance. It may be inward as self-doubt or outward as opposition. But Resistance spares no one who is attempting to improve their situation. It is cold, impersonal, and destructive. If you are unaware of it, Resistance will eat both you and your dreams alive.

Taking consistent, daily action is the only way to defeat Resistance. Yesterday’s actions do not defeat today’s Resistance.

How Do You Know the Right Action to Take?

The possibilities can be overwhelming. It is not helpful to figure out how to make your dream or goal a reality all at once.

The best action you can take is the one that’s right in front of you, the obvious, unsexy one. Have the conversation you need to have. Buy the course to learn how to reach your goal. Choose a product to sell. But do not get caught up in some fantasy of your future and neglect what’s in front of you.

Take one step, then do what’s next.

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