Much of what is being taught is good but not all of it.

Why not all of it? There is too much being taught with a very important step missing. In fact this step is so important that without it, the rest of the teaching will not work.

We are being told to focus on the positive to overcome the negative, and this is good. I teach that too, BUT not by itself. By itself it is not the whole story.

You will probably find it hard if not impossible to see a change in your life and circumstances by simply speaking and thinking positive words.

This is only the beginning.
There is another important ingredient which I call the missing link.

What is this missing link? ACTION.

You cannot change your life or your circumstances without action.
Yes, you start with changing your thoughts, but you cannot stop there. Those who do stop there end up very very frustrated and are usually the ones who say that changing your thoughts to change your life does not work. They are half right. But only half right!

All too many folk are looking for a magic wand that will sweep them away to the land of success. Such a thing does not exist.

Everything you and I do, we do in our minds first.
So yes, the FIRST step is to change your mind. Change your focus and belief system.
Then take action, and this is where many fall down. They don’t take action.

What stops you from taking action:

• Are you waiting for inspiration? Think about this:
  Doing doesn’t come from inspiration inspiration comes from doing Billy Cox
• Are you sure enough of goals? Perhaps you dreams/goals are not crystal clear. Make sure you order a copy of Find Your Why Now RIGHT NOW.
• Are you confident enough in yourself?
• Are you passionate about your goals?. Are you dreaming?- allow yourself to dream, and dream big.
• Just plain laziness – some folk spend their lives waiting for the magic formula (not you though).

Dream – focus on your dream – change your belief system – think positive thoughts AND take action!

Photo Credit

You enthusiastically bought the book, attended the seminar or listened to all of the mp3s, and at the end of 30 or 90 days you found yourself in the exact same place as you were at the beginning.

What happened?
That’s the problem. Nothing happened because you did virtually nothing.

Success does not come magically to a select few.
No, it is not magic, it is not “destiny” in the sense that “it was meant to be” or “it was not meant to be”.

It is a result of your decisions, determination, discipline and dedication to your vision. In fact true success starts with who you are which is demonstrated by what you do!

You will hear John Di Lemme often repeat this formula:

All too often we make a decision, but forget the action, at least after the first week.

I was close to a lovely German family in Mexico (many members are now waiting for us in heaven), and Gertrudes, the mother, would often say: “El interés tiene pies” (Interest has feet, or in other words, if you are REALLY interested in something you will ACT on it).

Today I read, well actually devoured, an article on Darren Hardy’s blog:
How to Actually Improve From Self Improvement Materials

Darren is the publisher of the Success Magazine . I highly recommend that you click here right now and read (and devour) this article (AND subscribe to the Success Magazine while you are there).

But don’t stop at reading and rereading!

• Take this article and make an action plan tailor made for YOU.
• Decide which action step you can take today.
• Take it today!

Remember: El interés tiene pies! (If you really want to change and grow in your personal life and your business, you will take action now!)

Photo Credit

Then another similar day happens where once again you come to the end of the day with nothing really achieved. Your list of things to do is still in tact with nothing crossed off.

Your day flew by and you have nothing to show for it. Then as this cycle repeats itself in your life (and it will, if you don’t stop it), you find that your days flew by and there is still nothing to show for them.

Anne Dillard is quoted as saying:

They may have been ACTIVE days, but the real question is: Were they productive days? And the answer is? No.

Here’s a shocking reality! Those days have gone forever!

Unless ….

Unless what? Unless you take this experience, learn from it and make a decision to change.

Of course you don’t stop with the decision. The next step is action!

Action Steps
You have contemplated the fact that days are becoming weeks and weeks months and you still have not achieved the things you dream about right?

Now take a clean sheet of paper, or a new page in your journal and write down your life purpose, your why.

In what way do you really want to make a difference in this world?
This might be something like building a heritage for your children, giving a child in a third world country the opportunity to study and fulfill his or her dreams in life or perhaps starting a foundation to motivate children and/or teens to go after their dreams. You know what you have in your heart.

Now write a list of the things that you dream about achieving in the next year or two.

Your answer will startle you and I trust inspire you to ACTION.

What action?

• Create some goals based on what you have written down.
• Look at your goals and write down some things that you could do to start moving towards them.
• Create an action plan from the things you have already written down.
• Set yourself a deadline for each step of your action plan. Be realistic.
• Start following your plan today and continue to take at least one step every day.

Never again will you end a day with the question: What did I actually achieve today?

Instead you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you took ONE STEP towards achieving your dreams and your life purpose.

Consider the words of Henry Ford

“It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.”

The question is: Which group are you are part of?
If you take action on these steps today, you have joined the group of people who are getting ahead – and I am confident that this is YOU.