The Success Principles

Nothing Happens until You Take Action

"To demonstrate the power of taking action in my seminars, I hold up a $100.00 bill and ask, "Who wants this $100.00 bill? Invariably, most of the people in the audience will raise their hands. Some will wave their hands vigorously back and forth; some will even shout out "I want it" or "I'll take it" or "give it to me." But I just stand there calmly holding out the bill until they get it. Eventually, someone jumps out of her seat, rushes to the front of the room, and takes the bill from my hand.

After the person sits down -now $100.00 richer for her efforts- I ask the audience. "What did this person do that no one else in the room did? She got off her butt and took action. She did what was necessary to get the money. And that is exactly what you must do if you want to succeed in life. You must take action, and, in most cases, the sooner the better." I then ask, "How many of you thought about getting up and just coming and taking the money but stopped yourselves?"

I then ask them to remember what they told themselves that stopped them from getting up.

The usual answers are:

"I didn't want to look like I wanted or needed it that badly."

"I wasn't sure if you would really give it to me.'

"I was too far back in the room."

"Other people need it more than I do."

"I didn't want to look greedy."

"I was afraid I might be doing something wrong and then people would judge me or laught at me."

"I was waiting for further instructions."

I then point out that whatever things they said to stop themselves are the same things that they say to stop themselves in the rest of their lives.

One of the universal truths in life is "How you do anything is how you do everything." If you are cautious here, your are probably cautious everywhere. If you hold yourself back for fear of looking foolish here, you probably hold yourself back for fear of looking foolish elsewhere. You have to identify those patterns and break through them. It's time to stop holding yourself back and just go for the gold."

Jack Canfield