Source: Prioritise taking action | Sunday Mail (Business)
Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo
CHOOSE to live on purpose and take action. Do not wait for perfect circumstances. Choose to take action now. One step is not too difficult. Tomorrow is too late. Plot your greatness moves and take action. Begin today. Your greatness is waiting for you to show up. Act now. You cannot afford the luxury of postponing life. One more punch is not too hard. One more step is not too difficult. Start and you will see miracles happening.
Live intentionally
Time is too precious to be squandered in boredom and idle personal abuse. There is a lot to do and very little time to do it. Time is at a premium. This moment is your greatest opportunity for advancing and taking action. If you are idle, it is not because you have nothing to do. It is because you have not focused your mind and life on anything worthwhile. Stop wandering and start focusing on something. Stop complaining and start acting. Stop nursing petty aches and take prioritised actions. Crystallise your goals, commit them to paper and then take relentless bold action.
In his book “The Greatest Salesman”, Og Mandino bequeathed to us Scroll 10, an ode to acting not. Value today and act now. I have been blessed over the years from reading and rereading this scroll.
In the first paragraph, Mandino says: “My dreams are worthless, my plans are dust, my goals are impossible. All are of no value unless they are followed by action. I will act now.”
Indeed, a plan alone, regardless of how grand it may be, is useless without action. Stop hesitating and act. Once a plan is drawn, the next step is diligent and focused action.
It is not the map that counts but action. It is not the look and feel of the strategy document but the action that matters. A plan never carries you anywhere without action. It is action that ignites movement and achievement. It is action that turns simple plans into a living and creative force. Action is the food and drink that nourish the hunger and thirst for greatness.
Stop being busy doing too many things. Chasing the whole forest is not hunting. Reduce your focus to the “one thing” that matters most. What one thing can you do now that can change your life?
What “one thing” are you passionate about? What one thing do you want people to write on your tombstone? Move with action and focus. Today is the youngest that you will ever be. Stop hesitating and vacillating. Greatness is not for those who keep threatening, but those who act. Enter into action with boldness and courage. Act now!
Stop procrastinating and take bold action.
Mandino says: “I will not avoid the tasks of today and charge them to tomorrow for I know that tomorrow never comes. Let me bring happiness or success for it is better to act and fail than not to act and flounder. Happiness, in truth, may not be the fruit plucked by my action yet without action all fruit will die on the vine.”
Yes, without action, all fruit dies on the vine. Without an action plan, they die in the pod. Without action, intentions rot in the bones. Without action, words whither into thorns. It is action that makes things happen. Read these words with your ego turned mute. Stop excusing yourself and wishing things were any better. Act now and do what you need to do.
Take bold action and dare to ask big questions and take big steps. Enter the market place, enter the ring of action boldly and you will see results that others only dream of. Only action determines your value in the market place. To multiply your worth, multiply your actions.
Mandino cuts to the heart of the action matter when he says: “I will walk where the failure fears to walk. I will work when the failure seeks rest. I will talk when the failure remains silent. I will call on ten who can buy my goods while the failure makes grand plans to call on one. I will say it is done before the failure says it is too late. I will act now.”
The credit belongs to people of action, those who choose to take action and make things happen.
Theodore Roosevelt once said: “The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive valiantly; who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who at best know the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly, so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Multiply your actions and make your moves. Today is all you have. Do not bank on the day you do not have. Tomorrow is the day reserved for the self-deceived, who seem to always have a huge tomorrow margin. You are not lazy, so take action.
Plans do not act on themselves. Take action. Strategies do not execute themselves; they need action. The discipline of taking intentional action is key to all achievements. Taking action and making things happen are the major job of every leader. Wherever there is greatness, the dominant mindset is taking action and getting things done. Act now.
Prioritise action and support those who take action and make things happen. Do not wait for alternative reality. Act now. Insist on realism and take radical action. Set clear goals and priorities, then take action and more action. Do not hope that action is taking place. Follow through to see that action is taking place. Increase your capacity to do great things and keep taking action. Multiply actions and not words. Reward doers, not just idle commentators. Take intentional action.
Committed to your greatness.
Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author and an accomplished workshop facilitator. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: mkamwendo@gmail.com