Daily Lab: Say “No” to Act

I can frustrate people sometimes.

Because, in one breath, I’ll say you can’t throw action against a thinking problem.

And then in another breath, this one, I’ll say that thinking doesn’t count as acting.

But both are true at the same time.

When I see entrepreneurs struggle with their marketing, it’s often not because they don’t know what to do. It’s that they don’t know what not to do.

In their eagerness to act, they do a bit of everything, without committing to anything. And so efforts are scattered, piecemeal, and occasional. And ineffective.

On the other hand, many entrepreneurs go the other way—spending all their time thinking, researching, planning. And never, actually, taking action.

But those are symptoms of the same challenge, sides of the same coin: Never actually acting, merely doing.

People can do stuff all day and never get much of anything done.

But real decisions require sacrifices, and real actions require tradeoffs.

You already know that if you want your marketing to succeed and thrive and help you grow your business, you’ve got to act.

But remember, that probably means doing less, not more.

Less frantic, ad hoc effort as anxiety demands, and more thoughtful action, prioritizing and focusing where it matters most.

And success also requires acting more, and “planning” less. Because research, deciding, and planning precede action, but they are not actions themselves.

Because they don’t actually get you anywhere absent of the action.

So, say “No” to act.

And see how much more you achieve.