“Just because you are busy doesn’t mean you are being productive” Before we get into the article, I’d like to say that everything mentioned in this article is from my point of view and I make full responsibility for the actions and the mistakes I’ve made in the past. And yes, I too was an action faker and I caught myself being one this morning. You spend 10 hours of your day working on your business, job, tasks or whatever you want to call it and at the end of the day you feel unaccomplished. The needle has not moved a single bit. You feel unaccomplished, left yourself down and sometimes not good enough to be successful. Let’s say you decide to seek help. Either you buy a few self help books like “think and grow rich” by Napoleon hill or you simply start listening to some of the motivational podcasts or even just listening to my daily stories on instagram. Your motivation spikes up, you create a plan and execute it to the tee. But you are still stuck. How can that be? Have you ever heard of Action Faking? Some people get stuck and do not know how to move forward therefore they don’t do anything about it. Other people get right into action. They start learning and consuming information, cleaning their homes, dressing better etc. and quite often both types of people seem to end up in the same place they were in before. The reason is simpler than we think yet hard to implement because it requires both an emotional effort as well as a physical one that we deep down are afraid of doing. Let me explain it from my side so that you can get a better idea of what action faking is. My title is “Business Coach” but what I really do on a daily basis is:
Coach non native English speakers to give extraordinary presentations and to successfully communicate across cultures.
I Coach one-on-one in my office and focus on topics such as gaining confidence in yourself, removing limiting beliefs and creating meaningful relationships.
That is what I do. Even Though I’ve been doing this for awhile, the truth is that I’ve been focusing my energy on other things that didn’t fit the mission and growing my practice.
My case fell under the second type of people. The ones that take massive action and try to do everything in one day leaving you exhausted and right where you started.
About three years ago, I realized that my actions were full of energy but they had no intentions to propel my business because I was scared. It is true I was scared of being laughed at (which till this day I get people mocking me for what I believe in and what I want to achieve in life), fear of failure, my German wasn’t good enough and the list went on and on.
So I looked busy for 10 hours a day. Tasks that never ended and gave me an appearance of being busy which I was. One day, I came across a quote that said “just because you are busy, doesn’t mean you are being productive.” this hit home very hard because it was true and it all made sense. It is not about organizing my living room or basement, it is about doing what is most important to achieve my most desired goals and push my business forward.
Today since I am working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I had a list of what needs to be done for my business such as contact 2 clients to see how they are doing, work on the new website and call a few potential clients. As soon as I saw the list, there was the urge to tidy up the sofa and go food shopping. That’s the fake action coming in to distract me from what’s really important. I mean unless you are a sales person, speaking to potential clients can be challenging. Nevertheless it is what’s important.
Okay so now you have your list of what YOU really need to do today to move forward. Then what? One way to get rid of the inertia and get it done is to first think of your intention. What is the reason for that task and what do you want to achieve with it. Once that is done, it is also important to think about why you are doing it. In other words the “meaning”.
For me, it has become my sole mission to help others realize how great they are and use that power to enhance the world we live in. This is the mission that propels my action. Every single time I get an initial discomfort, this mission sets me back on track and tells me how important it is to take the right action.
After finishing this article, I will go ahead and get things done the right way. The shopping and my living room can wait till after 5pm.
Let me turn it to you. What do you really want to accomplish?
Sincerely,
Jeury Tavares
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