There are things that we know, but for some reason we don't do. We know that we need to go to the gym and eat less fast food, go to bed earlier and get rid of bad habits. But knowing and doing are completely different things.
At the same time, we are well aware that we must stop postponing everything from day to day. We know that it is necessary to stick less on TV or social networks, and, for example, to disassemble a shelf with socks or read a new book.
The problem is not knowledge. Action brings us to a dead end.
Using the example of business, you can well consider the gap between "know" and "do". There are companies that are studying various ways to improve their work, they hire coaches and consultants, conduct endless seminars, and launch new growth programs every year… But nothing changes. They know what to improve, but they don't really implement it.
Why does the implementation cause such difficulties? How to translate knowledge into action? What stops us, what prevents us from bridging this gap between knowledge and action?
You don't have to be a great scientist or psychologist to know what prevents us from taking action. It's quite simple:
But all of the above that we know and should do, we don't do. Here's what we're doing instead:
Read — don't do (of course, unless your goal is to read more). To speak is not to do (unless you want to learn business communication or become a speaker).
Action is action. There is no other way.
So, what prevents us from performing this action? Here, too, everything is quite simple.
Something is happening that prevents us from doing what we know. It doesn't lie on the surface. This is a kind of sacrament. We all have it, but occasionally one of us knows what to do with it, and worse, recognizes its existence.
It's fear.
Why don't you finish reading the chapter to the end or finish writing a post on your blog and instead go and check your email or Facebook page* or Twitter? Because you are afraid of failure. You're afraid you won't make it. You are afraid of the task because you don't know where to start.
Why do you eat fried food and not vegetables, for example? You are afraid of change. You are afraid of possible inconveniences. You are afraid to look stupid when all your friends are eating fried potatoes and spicy chicken wings, and you are crunching carrots and cabbage.
Why don't you talk to your partner when there are difficulties in your relationship? Are you afraid of being rejected, looking stupid, or hurting your pride?
Why don't you leave those who treat you badly? Are you afraid of loneliness or admit that there was no love? It scares you just to think that you might look stupid when your relatives and friends find out that you have failed in another relationship.
We are afraid, and therefore we do brilliant things to avoid what scares us so much.
We are afraid that we will not be able to cope with the role of a writer, blogger, teacher, coach, runner, guitarist, manager, manager, mom or dad, in the end, and involuntarily create all sorts of tricks to avoid failure. We are not sabotaging ourselves, but trying to help not to do what we think can harm us.
Finding ways to avoid this harm is not difficult for us. We are ready for anything, and then we wonder: why can't we do what we have to?! Therefore, in order to get down to business, we need to overcome our fear.
We are going to conquer the fear of doing an action. The only way to do this, oddly enough, is to start taking action. Here's the plan... don't just read it, do it!
1. Learn by practice. By itself, reading will not teach you anything. Of course, reading is useful only if you take action after reading. They don't learn from conversations. We're just talking, talking... start doing something. You can talk in the process. Act, and then you will figure out which gaps to fill, where and how to move on.
2. Make a list of your fears. If you have problems with the implementation of your plans, then you are afraid of it. What really scares you? What are you afraid of doing wrong? Make a list of your fears. Making a list of fears is already an action.
3. Now get rid of your fears. Are you afraid to do gymnastics? Just do some exercises for 2 minutes. Just two minutes and you'll be free. 2 minutes of exercise is not scary at all. Do you avoid learning a foreign language, for example, Spanish? Watch a movie in Spanish for two minutes, listen to Spanish music or someone's podcast. Doing something in such small portions, you will realize that it's not scary at all.
4. Perceive failures as an element of learning. We are terribly afraid to stumble and fail and perceive it as cowardice. But this is not the case. Failures are an indicator that we are able to learn. Mistakes are an integral part of the learning process. If you know something perfectly or do something perfectly, then you simply have nothing to learn. First you have to stumble, then start all over again and finally succeed. Sometimes you will have to stumble more than once. Mistakes are an opportunity. An opportunity to get better.
5. Get better and do more. To act means to make mistakes, learn from your mistakes, correct them and move on. If you stumble on something, figure out how to fix it, and try again. A new attempt may be better than the previous one, if not, try to solve the issue a little differently. Try again and again until you succeed, and only then you will be able to move on to a new stage. There is no universal plan of action without errors. You have to start acting on your own and get a key skill — the ability to overcome difficulties and move on.
Fear is not a decisive factor in our lives. He should not dictate how we live. It's just a nasty little voice in the back of my mind that tries to control us and avoid any discomfort. But we can understand and accept the fact that difficulties are not as terrible as they seem at first glance. It's just learning something new, climbing to new heights, moving to new levels.
You can conquer fear. Start now!
Photo: Flickr1, Flickr2
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