Knowledge isn’t power. Action is power.
We live in a time when humans have more access to more knowledge than ever before in all of history. But people aren’t reporting feeling more powerful…or even happier or more satisfied in their lives. In fact, anxiety and stress are up and people are reporting feeling worse.
I talk to people every day who say, “I know I should stop X, but…” or “I know I need to start X, but…”. I see business owners who have known what needed to be done, but either took the wrong steps or did nothing at all. I know of couples and parents, who continue in destructive patterns even though they know it is unhealthy. These are smart, conscientious, often successful people who generally have a lot of knowledge. So why then aren’t they experiencing success over these situations?
Because knowing what to do and doing what you know is not the same thing. Knowledge is simply the tool that informs our action - there is power in taking action. Bridging that gap between knowledge and action often has to do with our mindset.
We can find ourselves in many situations where we aren’t sure what to do next. It can be very helpful to write things down – the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a particular situation or decision. Look for knowledge gaps. Where does the situation require more knowledge as a tool to help direct appropriate action? Then apply action to fill the knowledge gaps and build a plan. Next, act on the plan. I faced this myself when I decided to transition my coaching to the online space - it's a whole different world, it felt vulnerable, I was aware of a knowledge gap, and EVERY body is offering THE best way to do it. So much, in fact, that it was paralyzing.
I came to the point where I knew I had to stop learning, listening, studying, asking, and reading and simply do. For you, where do you need to gather the necessary knowledge, design a plan, and then take the action that makes a difference? I'd love to hear about it.
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