How to Become a Make-It-Happen Person – Part 3
You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.
There are a number of keys that I’ve learned and continue to learn about making things happen in life.
One day I was looking at a guy in a Ferrari and started thinking – many people think that wealth and success in life is something some are just blessed with – a matter of luck and good fortune.
What a day when I realised that you can make anything happen as long as you have a strong enough realisation that you can. You might not be able to make it happen over night, but you can come up with whatever you need.
Here are some more keys to becoming a Make-It-Happen person.
Take Immediate Action
Most people, when they get a good idea, only take action once it cannot wait much or any longer. Make-It-Happen people take action immediately or soon after they realise the value in an idea.
Tony Robbins says rightly that momentum is everything; the second you decide to do something you have to do something immediately, immediately towards its accomplishment. Scheduling it is for me that first step.
You cannot always be in front of your computer to schedule something important when it pops into your mind, so the next key to make-things-happen is, the second you think of something important to do, set a reminder on your phone or write a note. Don’t wait one second. You have to do something right away.
Next to actually having a schedule, this has been the most important habit to being extremely productive and making things happen for me.
Resist the temptation to say “Ah, I’ll remember it again if it’s really important”. Don’t do that. The second it pops into your mind, immediately set a reminder – i.e. if you can’t schedule it right then and there.
If I’m not in the office, I use my phone. I just quickly make a short description so I’ll know what I’m on about when the reminder goes off. Then I set the reminder for a time I know I’ll be in front of my computer so I can schedule it. Of course, you may prefer to use your phone as your schedule, but I need Outlook Calendar.
You’ll be absolutely blown away at how much more things you get done and how much more important things you get done by taking immediate action. It takes your productivity to a “whole nutha level”!
Why do most people not take immediate action?
Hyperbolic Discounting
I think sometimes it’s pure laziness and poor self-discipline, but it can also come down to your focus.
When human beings are offered two similar rewards, they will usually take the one they can get sooner rather than later, even if the later reward is more substantial. For example, when you offer someone a choice between either R50 today or R100 next year, most will take the R50 today. It’s called hyperbolic discounting and it highlights a short-sightedness inherent in people in general.
Average people see and feel the effort and sweat of the journey before they’ve taken the first step, and that paralyses them.
Make-It-Happen people see and feel the benefits of the end reward before they’ve taken the first step and that drives them.
If the solution is complicated
I was chatting to a good friend of mine’s father last year; he explained to me that his business was in decline. He explained what he wants to do to fix this. I spoke to him again just the other day and it was the exact same story. He hadn’t yet taken action. He’s smart and hard-working. But the reason he hasn’t taken action, I suspect, is this…
Sometimes we cannot take immediate action because we haven’t yet figured out what actions would be necessary to achieve our goal. The issue could be complex and require some dedicated thinking to piece together a thorough solution to act on.
In other words, you may have a problem, and what seems like a potentially brilliant solution comes to you, but you don’t take any actions because you need to sort through all the variables in your mind to evaluate it and plot the specific actions that would be needed. And then life happens and you don’t get to it.
Here’s the solution: Most people don’t actually sit down to think. They think by accident or coincidence while their mind is not otherwise engaged. So, the next key to becoming a Make-It-Happen person is, I’ve learnt that when I get, for example a business idea, I need to…
Immediately Schedule Dedicated Thinking Time
What I do is, I quickly write down the ideas that are immediately in my mind, and then I schedule thinking time to really get into strategising how to make it happen.
Most people schedule time for what they need to do, but not to strategise how to best do it.
In the corporate world, if the boss catches someone with their feet up thinking while sipping a Merlot, he’ll soil his three-piece Armani suite, without question. And imagine if he saw your schedule and one hour was labeled “Thinking about problem X”.
Yet, this is exactly what I do relatively often (working for myself obviously). I go to the swimming pool with a glass of wine, sit on the beach chair with a pen and exam pad, think, and jot down the results as I go.
Well, you can’t really blame the boss can you. Most of the time when people are not actively busy with something, they’re not strategising, they’re just… doing nothing. Here’s a tip if you’re one of those people. When your boss catches you sleeping, immediately sit up straight, eyes wide open, and say “In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Leave a comment