Action

I like smart people. I like to hear what they've said. So, for several years now, I've kept a couple of books near at hand. Of course, one of them is Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. I've also used Respectfully Quoted to help me put thoughts into words when I feel too ineloquent to do it myself.

A month or two ago, I added a third book to this collection: Geary's Guide to the World's Great Aphorists. I really like it.

I read one yesterday that has echoes of a thought I've been having for a few weeks now:

"Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him."

-- Aldous Huxley

Rather than talking about the reactive nature of this quote (which deserves more attention), I'm more drawn to the proactive side--creating those experiences.

I have plans. I've heard many of my friend's plans. Everyone has plans.

What I don't have nearly enough of is action.

I can plan like you've never seen. I can whip out a categorized, prioritized, hierarchy-based, multi-tiered plan for tackling any goal or target. And, all too often, that's where it dies a slow, dust-covered death.

But what I badly need to do is learn how to action.

The only goals I've reached in life are the ones I've actively done things towards. Actually reaching the goal often has no relation to how detailed of a plan I'd created. The accomplishment was instead a reflection of the actual work I put into it.

A perfect example of that is the cut-off back of a shirt that I have framed and hanging in my office. It's from my first solo in a plane. It represents the work I put into accomplishing that. But, for that great accomplishment, I had no plan. Late one weeknight, I decided that I wanted to learn to fly. I got in my car, drove to the airport, bought all my supplies and signed-up for the ground school. Zero planning. 100% action.

I know this is a very simple idea. It's nothing new and nothing insightful. But I see the "planning pitfall" in myself and those around me.

So, you'll be hearing less about my "plans" on this blog and more about my "actions". I don't want to spend my life planning and not having experiences.

(and now that I've got myself sufficiently worked-up, it's time for some tea)



This is a cup of real Ceylon tea--hand delivered to me directly from Sri Lanka. (sometimes my life is so good, I can hardly believe it)