I needed to take an action.

Donna, a hairstylist, wished she had more money to spend on personal pleasure and for debt repayment. She languished thus for nearly a year, growing even more frustrated. What she needed was to take action, to have business cards printed, to carry some with her at all times, and to give one to anyone she met who expressed interest. She did, and within six months her income rose 20 percent.

Steve, a professor of philosophy, wished he had a larger apartment, but couldn’t afford one. He needed to take the action of developing a syllabus (for a self-awareness semi­nar), the action of mailing out fliers, the action of advertising, which he did. For the past two years he’s been teaching a seminar one weekend each month. This has brought him an additional $13,000 a year, substantially more than he needs to cover the rent on the new apartment in which he now lives.

Taking action is what made the difference in these cases, what always makes the difference. Does that mean taking action always works? No, not at all. Some actions are more effective than others; some end up dead in the water. The point is, you can’t get results without them.

Fish lay thousands of eggs. Only a tiny percentage of these ever hatch—yet there are a lot of fish around. if I take ten actions and only three work, I’ve still made three gains I couldn’t have if I’d simply sat around wishing something were different. It’s taking action that counts. Next Page