Courage to Take Action (Even if You’re Not Sure What To Do) Can Lead to Great Results

Simple goals and actions are more powerful than you think!

The other day I was editing a video.  Yes, me.  I had some footage that my video guy shot a few weeks back but wasn’t able to get to it before he ran off on a trip to the Czech Republic.  Given that it is with my two boys and about the goal setting exercise we did this year, I didn’t want to let it sit idle too long.  Plus, they keep asking, “When will our video be on YouTube!?!?” So, I opened up the external drive with all the videos and spent some time reviewing his work today (awesome videos, by the way… stay tuned and we’ll tell you more about them!), and found the unedited video.  Armed with my mac, Google, and iMovie, I was ready to get this thing edited. My goal for that day was simple, but perhaps not easy: Edit the video and write the blog to go with it.   The thing is, I had only opened iMovie for the first time this week.  I had not looked at the external hard drive to even know what was on there since all this cool video work was done.  In fact, it was only 2 days earlier that I shot, edited, and posted a video testimonial for a friend to YouTube.  Let’s face it, this isn’t a skill I currently possess.  Yet, I knew there had to be a simple way to manage this.  Armed with a goal, the desire to achieve it today, and a little time to poke around and figure it out, I jumped in and created a nice video.  I could have easily talked myself out of even starting with common excuses like, “I don’t know what to do”, or “I don’t have time”.  But I started anyway and stuck with it until I was finished.  (This video is in a recent post on this blog.  You can see it at <link for blog>.) So what about this story can you learn from?  Let me share a few points.

• Have a goal that clearly states what you want to accomplish, and by when.
• Hold an intention for what you want to experience today, like a completed video (to match your goal), or like having fun and staying calm during the process.
• Amp up your desire.  It adds fuel to your intentions.  If what you’re doing aligns with your passion, everything is easier.
• Have courage to go for it, even though you don’t everything before you start.
• Get into action.  Nothing will happen until you do, and this enables you to respond to feedback and make adjustments.
• Stick with it.  Persistence pays off.

The good news is these points apply to bigger goals that may take you longer than just one day, as well as the small goals. Think of where you might have an opportunity to jump in and go for it.  You might accomplish something that has been hanging in the “land of incomplete” for too long.  :) In addition to having a video posted that would not have been until I found someone to do it for me, I know have some basic editing skill that I didn’t before starting.  How cool is that?