Are you the RIGHT type of busy? How to tell if you are and what to do if you’re not!

Not all busy is GOOD busy! Are you the right type of busy?!

Oh my goodness, I read an article the other day and it totally struck a chord! It’s about the difference between being in Motion and taking Action. Sounds a bit odd? Let me explain!

Being in Motion versus Taking Action

Being in motion is when we’re busy doing stuff: planning, organising, ticking things off todo lists. Useful stuff but tasks that don’t directly take us nearer our goal. Taking Action on the other hand is the stuff we do that *actually* achieves our goal.

Does that sound a bit woolly? Maybe these examples will help:

Motion versus Action!

Let’s say you need to make some extra money before Christmas so you set yourself a goal of selling 50 more dresses. The motion is making the dresses. The action is going to the market and selling them.

Or maybe you need to get your blogging going! So you set yourself a goal to publish a blog post every week for a year. The motion is planning your topics. The action is writing the posts.

Here’s a non-business-y example that I love. Say you want to start healthy eating: the motion is buying that fancy new cookbook. The action is eating the healthy meal!

We need to take Action but we like being in Motion!

So it’s kinda easy to see in the examples above that you need to take action! If you only do the ‘motion’ bit you’re not going to very far. Owning ten cookbooks doesn’t make you a healthy eater!

But did you know that most of us only do the ‘motion’ stuff in our businesses. It’s true! Even though we’re REALLY REALLY busy we’re busy being in motion rather than busy taking action. We’re buying cookbooks like there’s no tomorrow but we’re not eating the healthy meals!

Really? Why?!

Well maybe you’re like me! I like being in motion! Being in motion is doing stuff like planning and organizing and crossing bits and bobs off todo lists. Being in motion is useful! Being in motion is keeping me busy! Being in motion feels GOOD!

Taking action on the other hand is tough. It’s the anxiety of making that follow up phone call to a potential customer, it’s holding a market night and worrying that no-one will come, it’s the brain-ache that comes with writing a blog post. It’s the hard bits!

Motion is SO much easier than action and being busy feels good but, but, but…… it isn’t getting us anywhere. Gah!

How to start taking Action!

Maybe you are one of those fabulous people who are naturally super-good at taking action. But if you’re not, take heart, most of us are like you and it’s NOT too hard to change! Here’s how you can get better at taking action!

1 Have a goal

It’s hard to take action if you haven’t got a goal so this really is the best place to start. Doesn’t have to be a massive goal – just something you really want to achieve.

2 Keep a journal

Every night write down what you have done that day that *directly* works to achieving your goal. So that’s the stuff you’ve done that’s taking action. This is such an easy thing to do but it totally works because knowing you’ve got to write it down will MAKE you take action!

3 Keep a progress chart of your goal

Let’s say you goal was the one above  – to sell 50 more dresses – you’d keep a little chart of how many dresses you’d sold each day and your total to date. Charts are great motivators!

4 Set a deadline

Deadlines work well because they force us to take action! A friend of mine recently got a nasty tax bill in the post that needed to be paid within 30 days. Talk about taking action – she made more sales in that month than she had in the previous six!!

5 Be persistent

People who are good at taking action are VERY persistent. Because they are super-focussed on achieving their goal they just keep finding alternative ways to do it! I have a friend who’s goal was to have her scarves stocked by Liberty of London. She got plenty of “We’ll call you back” type emails but she persisted and every day contacted the store via a different avenue. And yes, she got stocked!

6 100 Day goal

The 100 Day Goal and Journal is actually a very fabulous way to focus your mind on taking action!

Motion needs Action. Action needs motion!

Of course it’s not just about taking action! We need to be in motion TOO! Planning and organisation and the daily-do is important and there’d be no action without it! The trick though is to get the balance RIGHT!

What about you?!

Are you good at taking action? How do YOU make yourself take action?!

♡

Useful bits+bobs

100 Day Goal: We start again on 1 January 2016. Fancy joining us?!

Here’s the original (rather serious) article about Motion versus Action and here’s a more readable one!

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