What is your next step?
I am always on the lookout for good quotes. I don’t know about you, but the good ones really get me thinking. And this week I thought I might change things a little and write about 3 quotes that have been on my mind. After further thought, it struck me that they are connected!
The first quote is from Col Fink, a thought leader whom I follow. His quote is, ‘do you act without thinking or think without acting? There is only so much value to be found in ruminating. Activity breeds results.’
The above quote is a variation to an earlier quote he had on acting and thinking that had me laughing. That quote was, ‘when you consider the source of most of the problems in your life, are they because you tend to act without thinking or think, without acting?’ I have been guilty of both on many occasions. It’s a part of being human. But today I want to focus on the first quote.
In the current uncertain and volatile space, we can find ourselves thinking too much and acting too little. If you find yourself doing that, take a small step. Because that step breaks the status quo. It may feel hard, but action often offers us other possibilities.
The next quote is one that was mentioned in a webinar I attended and again it had me thinking. The quote is from Harvard University’s marketing professor Theodore Levitt: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”
Levitt’s message, as a marketing expert, is to sell the results, not the product or the features. But I had a different interpretation. It may have been due to the mindset I had at the time. What struck me about the quote was that we often want a problem fixed without having to do the work. Humans are prone to wanting quick fixes without effort. Context matters, of course.
We want the hole without doing the drilling. Or for someone else to do the drilling for us. But that’s not where the value lies. Because if we extrapolate this concept further, the hole is a means to so much more. The hole is an immediate result, but the final result could be to hang a picture, attach shelves, lay flooring, and more. That’s the result we are striving for. The hole is a paradox – it’s all about the hole and it’s not about the hole. In the future-proofing context, we need the quarter-inch drill.
This brings me to the third quote I came across in the same week. And I knew it had a link to the two other quotes. This one is from Henry Wheeler Shaw (or Josh Billings, pen name) and it is, ‘be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.’
It was mentioned in a group discussion, and I made a mental note. It was my brain alerting me to connect the dots. It spotted a link. It is profound in its simplicity and one that we can all benefit from. We have enough distractions especially when it comes to doing things that matter to us. The irony is that it is not the external, such as social media, Netflix, etc, that distracts us but the internal, our thoughts, emotions, beliefs, says Nir Eyal. He is the author of Indistractable, how to control your attention and choose your life. Our future will depend on how we focus our attention and what we focus it on.
And to conclude, a bonus quote. Whilst doing some catch-up reading yesterday, I came across a quote by Martin Luther King. A quote that brings it all together, ‘you don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step’.
It’s that simple. We hold ourselves back when we ruminate too much or overcomplicate things. I do it too and I get it. But now and again I check on all my overthinking ‘cupboards’ and take a small step to break the status quo to see where it may take me.
Where do you need to do the same?
As always, you can reach me at yoga@yoganesadurai.com