Taking Action
There's no room for waiting, expecting your task to magically complete itself.
"I will postpone it for a later time."
"I'll indulge in a brief Instagram scroll and then dive into my task."
"I'll attempt to kickstart my productivity by watching motivational videos."
"Perhaps I'm fatigued. I'll spend some time on social media until I regain my energy."
"I wish motivational videos would appear while I'm browsing, so I can get motivated."
These are the snares of waiting for something or hoping for motivation to ignite your action. There is an abundance of gurus and YouTube videos that can provide the inspiration to get started. All of this can enhance your enthusiasm for work and kickstart your actions.
Nevertheless, it lacks the actual action. It's merely a more polished form of procrastination. Your task remains incomplete. Your goals remain unmet. Your anxiety and uncertainty persist.
No waiting
A lot of people, especially me, are falling into the trap of waiting. We thought that by waiting for motivation to come, we would feel better. We thought that by scrolling until we felt satisfied, we would start to get motivated to take action.
Those are traps. Social media apps like Instagram, TikTok, etc. are built to make you stay on them. The videos that you are scrolling through will become much more engaging and make you feel too lazy to start taking action or leave the app. So, don’t think that you will be much better if you keep scrolling.
All of this stems from the absence of taking the necessary steps toward your goals. There's no room for waiting, expecting your task to magically complete itself. You can't spend 24 hours constantly contemplating and anticipating your article to be miraculously finished.
You must take action, even if it's just a small step. You need to rouse yourself and get moving. Open your book and delve into the current chapter. It's time to initiate action!
Taking Action
Initiating action as soon as possible can infuse you with the confidence and motivation to continue taking steps forward. Even taking a small action can provide you with the momentum and power to tackle the next one, boosting your self-assurance because you've already achieved the initial step.
To kickstart action, consider these strategies:
Begin with the smallest action in your first step. Starting with a minor action is more likely to be completed. Taking action, even if it's brief, can help you gain a clearer understanding of the first step. If you merely contemplate the initial step without acting, it can seem more daunting in your mind.
Keep your plans to yourself. Avoid falling into the trap of discussing your plans. Focus on taking action rather than talking about it. Keeping your plans private allows your mind to conserve energy for the task, boosting your confidence and progress. At the very least, share your plans with others sparingly.
Detoxify your habits. If you want to make it easier to take action, consider detoxing some of your unproductive habits. Identify the behaviors that hinder you from taking action or lead to procrastination. For instance, if social media distracts you or hinders your focus, consider detoxing that habit.
Explore a dopamine detox. A dopamine detox can help you improve yourself in the long run. A 30-day detox can be sufficient, but avoid taking it to extremes. Reward yourself along the way to maintain motivation.
We all experience pain, but we don't need to endure unnecessary suffering. Often, our reactions to challenges and setbacks cause more suffering than is warranted.
Conclusion
Start becoming the doers. Most of the time, we are what we do, not what we think. Our mind is so powerful that it can imagine a lot of things that are not real. Start controlling your mind by taking action because you are focusing on something that is real. Not just from something that you think about.
Keep grinding and take action. If you find yourself procrastinating take action, and analyze the cause of that problem. Then start taking action to deal with that problem.
You might find yourself making a big first step. It’s okay if you can take that step, but if you are procrastinating too much with that, you might want to change it into small steps.
All this takes time. Enjoy the process, and eventually, you will arrive at that finish line