The Power of Action - Combat Procrastination and Unlock Success
“Do the thing and you will have the power.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Do you ever feel stuck? Like your mind is running a mile a minute and you’re just stuck, lying in bed and ruminating, holding onto grudges and bitterness, envying others while scrolling through social media, and you can’t help your negative thinking patterns, which are paralyzing you? And you have a million things to do — working on an academic paper for a cardiology journal, preparing your lesson plan for a student, studying for the classes you’re taking, going into the hospital or research lab to volunteer, work on job applications, do some coding for the infant start up idea you’ve been feasting on for forever, and working out to get the body of your dreams. And you know these things have to be done, they’re on your to do list, you wrote them down on sticky notes, you even taped them to the bathroom mirror. But you’re still rotting on your bed, looking at TikTok videos and Instagram reels instead of doing the work you need to do to get the life you want and the success you know you’re meant for.
What are we waiting for? Do the thing, and you will have the power. Ralph Waldo Emerson said this. I put my own twist on this, making my own mantra, “Do or die.” I used to be way more biased towards action, instead of waiting around for the perfect moment for me to act. There’s a ton of things to do in one day, and start by doing one thing. Once you act, no matter what your brain is telling you, that you’re tired and you just want to rest and you don’t want to do the research for the article you’re supposed to publish in that reputable medical journal that you’ve been bragging about to all of your colleagues, that you just want to watch Netflix instead of doing work — once you act, the strength will follow. You will gain momentum. Set the timer for five minutes, sit at the computer to do the work, open your textbook, start coding, and DO THE WORK. The rest will follow.
Tackle something small. You will be intimidated by the scope of the work you’re doing. Break it up into small bite sized pieces. The Slight Edge talks about how consistently taking small actions will over time lead to large rewards. Maybe you’re working on the novel you want to publish, but you’re thinking about how you don’t know what the plot is for this chapter and how you’re supposed to start writing but you feel inertia holding you back. Start by writing a paragraph. Any paragraph. Sit in front of the computer, put the timer on, and do it.
Don’t wait for motivation to appear. Discipline is what matters. Disciplines gets you up at 5am in the morning when you want to hit the snooze button. I listened to Mel Robbins’ podcast, she has a book called The 5-Second Rule, which basically talks about you say “5-4-3-2-1” to stop your brain from its negative thought loops, and by interrupting your natural chain of thought, you can get the drive to do the thing. Before you start doubting yourself and worrying about the future and being crippled by insecurity, you stop your brain and you start a new page. You get to shift your mindset. You get to start building momentum by simply starting. You’re not going to wait after half an hour of lying on your bed continuing your sleep cycle, you’re not going to wait until you “feel ready”. You’re never going to feel ready unless you ARE ready. And you will be ready, if you just start.
Taking acton is an achievement in itself. The process is the reward, not the outcome. For me, when the timer is finished, that’s the reward. I did what I set out to do. I stayed the course. I achieved my goal.
So what are you waiting for? Just start. And do the thing.
