6 Keys to Becoming a Person of Action

My future is immediate. I will grasp it in both hands and carry it with running feet. When I am faced with the choice of doing nothing or doing something, I will always choose to act!
— Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

When faced with the choice of doing nothing or doing something, always choose to act! Seize this moment. There are six keys to becoming a person of action: overcoming your fears, being prepared to make quick decisions, having a life plan, embracing the power of action, becoming an early riser, and capitalizing on your strengths.

1. Overcoming Your Fears
Fear debilitates action. Where has fear hindered your progress? Has fear kept you from pursuing a job promotion, diving into a new career, going after a big account, innovating, or reinventing your business? Fear of failure, humiliation or making mistakes hinders our creative impulses and our ability to create extraordinary changes in the world. Step 1: Identify your fear. Step 2: Take action.

2. Being Prepared to Make Quick Decisions
Calvin Coolidge stated, “We can’t do everything at once, but, by God, we can do something at once!” Changing the world begins with a single act. Sometimes the single act requires a quick reaction. One way to be a person of action is to think through some situations and decide beforehand how you will react when the time comes.

So are you ready for your moment? Have you decided what you will do when your moment arrives? We’ve heard over and over again that success happens when preparation meets opportunity.

3. Having a Life Plan
Having a life plan is important in being a person of action. If you know where you want to go, making decisions will be easier. There are many ways to consider your life’s plan or what things you want to accomplish before you die. One way is to think about your eulogy. Write a glowing, incredible eulogy you would like to have read aloud at your funeral. Ask three important people in your life for their feedback and suggestions on what needs to happen for you to become the person in the eulogy.

4. Embracing the Power of Action
Take a look at your life plan and recognize the person you need to become in order to realize your ultimate vision. Identify the steps to take today, tomorrow, and in the weeks, months and years to come to help move you toward that self-actualized person. Then capture ten things you can do in the next twenty-four hours to move you in that direction. A simple action like picking up the phone and reconnecting with an old friend can help you build tremendous momentum toward your desired destination.

5. Becoming an Early Riser
Thomas Jefferson woke up early every day. He said, “Whether I retire to bed early or late, I rise with the sun.” There was a fifty-year period in Jefferson’s life during which the sun never caught him in bed. Jefferson had an appetite for action. He said, “Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act. Action will delineate and define you.” He also said, “Determine never to be idle. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.” Another one of Jefferson’s great quotes: “I’m a great believer in luck; and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

Try getting up extra early for the next thirty days. When you wake up come up with several new ideas that inspire and motivate you. Jot down the first twenty ideas that come to mind. Circle the idea that is most important to you. To set that idea in motion, quickly brainstorm five specific actions you can take within twenty four hours and do them.

6. Capitalizing on Your Strengths
Everyone excels in certain areas. Some people are fast runners. Some people are sharp thinkers. Others might be better at managing finances. The trick is to not only identify areas you need to improve, but to capitalize on your God-given strengths! If you capitalize on your current strengths, you can create momentum and take on the challenges that await you.

About the Author
Andy Andrews has quietly become one of the most influential people in America. A professional noticer, a powerful communicator, a teacher, and a serious fisherman, Andrews is the best-selling author, of The Traveler’s Gift, with millions of books in print.