Act Now. Think Later.

There is value in envisioning and sketching out a plan. There are times and places for thinking, contemplating, and even losing track of time in aimless wondering. But what is the cost of thinking before we act?

You cannot think your way into a new way of acting, but you can act your way into a new way of thinking.

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In the past two years, I have given a lot of thought to how I can add value to people’s careers and lives. I have devoted hours upon hours to the contemplationLostInThought1 of what an authentic, values-based business might look like. I have wondered about (and internally debated) the merits of writing and blogging to educate, connect with, and promote my business to the kind of person who would most benefit from my help. I have subscribed to podcasts and newsletters, read books and articles, and studied the ways that other difference makers have impacted the lives of their clients and audience.

But when it comes to accomplishing a goal, creating something new or positively impacting another person’s life, I have found that thinking about my intended action not only fails as a proxy for the action, it reliably delays it. Continue reading

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I Am Afraid of What You Will Think of Me

I am afraid. Terrified, really.

I am afraid that I’m failing. Afraid that my business will not grow, and that it’s my fault. I am afraid that the people in the best position to help me succeed don’t really understand what I do. And how could they? I have not explained it to them very well, if at all. I certainly have not endeavored to show them what I do. I am afraid to show them.

I am afraid to ask for help. Afraid to ask people I care about to Continue reading

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The Secret to Having More Time

I heard a fellow coach, Talane Miedaner, make a wonderful point the other day in response to a woman on a call who expressed the concern that there never seemed to be enough time in the day. Talane said (and I’m paraphrasing to some extent) that this sensation occurs when we make the mistake of treating time as a fixed commodity.

In some sense, of course, it is. The last time I checked, there were still 60 minutes in an hour. 24 hours in a day. And so on. Still, time is not necessarily a “use it or lose it” proposition.

bending time Continue reading

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How to Stop Putting Off Important Things

We all do it. Between work and family obligations, errands, the mere whiff of a social life and the few minutes we manage to cobble together here and there for relaxation, we carry around an endless source of excuses for why something important to us must wait until later. But later rarely comes knocking and before we know it, the stress associated with not taking action has become yet another excuse to procrastinate.

procrastination

Take this blog, for example. It has been about a year since I published a new post. I say “published” because for the first few weeks, I was writing, but putting off publishing my work. This post wasn’t ready yet. That one needed more polishing. Continue reading

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