Take Action -> Don't Get Caught in Motion
The most common phrase of our lives in this day in age is ‘I’m busy’! Right? How many times do you get that answer after asking being how they are and what they’ve been up to!?
How’s work been? Busy!
Haven’t seen you in a while! Oh man, so busy.
The list goes on.
There are so many ways that we can be 'productive' right now. Podcasts have opened our ears to some of the best and brightest minds in any sort of profession. You can seek business advise from Bank leaders like Jamie Dimon, world-class athletes like Kevin Durant, or consume MIT quality lectures from online websites like Coursera. Most free of charge!
The technology/information age is incredible! The barriers to entry have been completely demolished. Now you can find information on anything, be connected to anyone. The opportunities are endless.
But how easy is it for us to be distracted right now? We’re able to scroll through feeds of the prettiest people on the planet on IG. With a $10 subscription, we have access to unlimited online music w/ no commercials. We can listen to every artist and genre imaginable. We can play video games against people across the world. We have a constant stream of personalized notifications attacking our phones when anything happens, from a text message to a friends workout update...
We’ve created a culture where it is far easier to consume than to create. Where it's easy to get stuck in motion, not action.
DO NOT CONFUSE MOTION WITH ACTION
There is a huge difference between going to business school and starting/running a successful business.
Everyone is capable of watching the professional athletes and being a critic, being out on that field is a different game.
You can listen to another language, actively speaking and understanding what’s being said is another experience.
You can read about sales strategies all you want, landing multiple million-dollar deals requires a dialed-in mindset and approach.
The former examples above are Motion - the latter are Action. It’s important not to confuse the two.
James Clear dives deep on this in Atomic Habits:
"I refer to this as the difference between being in motion and taking action. The two ideas sound similar, but they’re not the same. When you’re in motion, you’re planning and strategizing and learning. Those are all good things, but they don’t produce a result. Action, on the other hand, is the type of behavior that will deliver an outcome. If I outline twenty ideas for articles I want to write, that’s motion. If I actually sit down and write an article, that’s action. If I search for a better diet plan and read a few books on the topic, that’s motion. If I actually eat a healthy meal, that’s action. Sometimes motion is useful, but it will never produce an outcome by itself."
There are a lot of people out there that are incredible motion people. You know who these types of people are. They are always hustling, always working on something. But there is a huge difference between action and motion people.
For me personally, I'm a hustler. For years, it's safe to say I was stuck in a motion rut. Recently I've made an effort to try and focus on ACTION, not MOTION.
For instance, the first 6 years of my career, I was doing a ton of additional motion in addition to my day job, but until recently, didn't have anything to show for it. Looking back, there is nothing wrong with motion, especially when you are young and inexperienced, like everyone in their 20s. However, there is a huge difference between bullet-points you can throw up on your Angelist resume vs. actually building something that you can point to and reference indefinitely.
This website is an example of that. Sure, I've had this same conversation with countless salespeople, clients, mentors, family, and friends, (anyone who will listen to the soapbox). But writing these thoughts down is immensely more valuable to everyone involved, including me. Not only does this force me to think clearly about an entire thought process, it gives a platform where the whole world can also be a part of the audience, not just the individual I'm talking to. Action vs Motion.
Which leads to the next point:
Creating > Consuming
You'll likely find that most motion people tend to also be a bit more pessimistic and quick to critique people. This is not uncommon, as consuming is motion, creating is action.
Anyone can throw shade from the cheap seats. Most people can come up with $40 to go to a basketball game and most professional stadiums can seat tens of thousands of people. It's easy to have a personality on the internet - there tens of thousands of reputable people in that space. On the other hand, there are 494 total NBA players on planet earth. Far easier to critique than to actually be creating that brilliance on the court.
The same phenomena applies to making movies:
https://www.quora.com/About-how-many-total-man-hours-does-it-take-to-make-a-full-length-feature-film
Vs. the afternoon it takes for someone to jump on rotten tomatoes and bash it.
For the majority of the population, motion people generally are stuck in the technician's mindset. They are stuck doing minimum wage types of tasks. This can range from mowing the grass to responding to all emails yourself, to doing all of your own expense reports, etc. These are all tasks that are necessary for progress. But is it really the best use of your time?
Naval highlights problem fixing and outsourcing tasks as motion here.
Do YOU have to mow your lawn, or could you outsource that type of activity? Are you responsible for managing your customer service, or could you hire an assistant to answer those emails?
This is the type of subconscious 'HAVE TO' self-talk that keeps motion behavior going.
James Clear also addresses the motion mindset:
"That’s the biggest reason why you slip into motion rather than taking action: you want to delay failure.It’s easy to be in motion and convince yourself that you’re still making progress. You think, “I’ve got conversations going with four potential clients right now. This is good. We’re moving in the right direction.” Motion makes you feel like you’re getting things done. But really, you’re just preparing to get something done. When preparation becomes a form of procrastination, you need to change something. "
I get stuck in motion all of the time! Here were the main reasons:
Fear of rejection
Subconscious, but always come up with reasons to not send the email or make the call. Scared that someone will say no, I won't get a response, etc. You have to realize that and just own it. Who cares? It doesn't matter. Put yourself out there!
Not wanting to ask for help
Feels like a form of weakness. It's not right, but it's true.
If you listen to any interview by any successful person, they will inevitably talk about the help they've received. You just gotta ask. It takes a village.
You can't let these thoughts catch you in the Motion trap! You'll get stuck there and waste valuable time on this earth. Learn to recognize when you're having them, realize what you're doing, chuckle, and turn that MOTION mindset to ACTION!
Instead of thinking about strategy or spending another 6 hours on your pitch deck, LOB IT OVER to A VC. She'll be able to tell you what's good and what's a waste of your time! so much agony saved!
A great mindset for shaking the motion mindset is one of the Essentialist. Greg Mckeown wrote the book on Essentialism:
"Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin? Have you ever felt both overworked and underutilized? Have you ever found yourself majoring in minor activities? Do you ever feel busy but not productive? Like you’re always in motion, but never getting anywhere? If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the way of the Essentialist.
The way of the Essentialist involves learning to tell the difference—learning to filter through all those options and selecting only those that are truly essential.
Essentialism is not about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It is about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what is essential."
Less Motion, More Action.
In closing, take a close look at how you're spending your time. Are you staying busy, but not actually making any meaningful advancements? Are you making excuses or giving reasons, while in reality just avoiding perceived 'failure'?
Stop delaying! Get over whatever mental hurdle is holding you up.
START a business
PLAY the sport
SPEAK the Language
ASK for the sale
