Why Is Taking Action So Hard? My Perspective
Everyone dreams of something they wish were reality. A lot of us dream of extra money to where we can not worry about living paycheck to paycheck and how the bills are going to get paid. We tend to dream of winning the lottery so that we can take those vacations we’ve dreamed about and never have to request it off from a job.
Others might dream of meeting that special someone so that they can spend time with someone doing the things that they enjoy the most. If you’re married and have children, you might dream of having the means to pay for your children’s education.
Whatever it may be, we all dream about something that we want so badly in our lives. I’m definitely one of those. My biggest passion is traveling and antiquing. I love visiting places and seeing things I’ve never seen or experienced before. Heck even going back to places I’ve been to before is always a thrill for me.
As great as those dreams are, there’s one thing that stop many people from making those dreams into reality. That one thing that holds so many people back, is taking action. Think about it, we dream about things we want so much, but will seldom do the things needed to be done in order to make those dreams a reality for us. Why is taking action so hard? Let’s take a look at some of the big reasons for that.
Fear of Failure
Almost everyone out there is scared of failing at something especially if we try something new that is outside of our comfort zone. Folks, I’m EXTREMELY guilty of this! Trying something new is extremely scary especially now that I’m getting a little up there in age because I feel that if I try something new and fail at it, that I’m just not good at anything in general and wasted my time and that simply is not true.
I’ve had to learn those lessons with the jobs I’ve had during my life thus far, including my current job. I’ve worked the customer service arena for pretty much my adult life, starting out in fast food, moving to retail, working in call centers, to now working at a bank. I struggled in each and every one of them when I first started working at those places. I was so scared that I was not going to be good enough and I would be fired. I won’t lie as there were times I got awfully close to that happening.
I continued to push on though and things did eventually get better and some of those jobs I ended up getting some nice promotions and increases in pay. Things don’t last forever though and in the job market today, there is the fear of businesses shutting down or decreasing profit margins enough to the point of mass layoffs.
Sometimes we also push ourselves so hard because we fear failing, but pushing yourself too much could lead to the very thing you’re trying to avoid. One thing that we have to remember is that we are not going to succeed at everything. A closed door can lead to other opportunities and that is something we need to always remember.
Life Challenges
Things that happen in our lives tend to be quite challenging at times. Newly weds trying to figure things out, a baby on the way, children in school with their activities, being involved with activities yourself outside of work, etc. Sometimes we have so many things going on, some expected and some unexpectedly, that we just don’t make the time for anything else.
It can be so hard to make time to really do the things we dream of doing in our lives, but the truth of the matter is, if it’s really important to you, you’ll find a way to make the time. It’s hard a lot of times for me to find the time to do what is necessary to reach my dream of traveling when I want to.
I’m currently dealing with a good amount of debt which has caused me to work two jobs. I work a full time job as well as a part-time job and it stinks for me because I have to get up really early for my part-time job and then I have a couple of hours before I go in to my full time job.
Once I’m done at my main job, I generally head home and have just enough time to eat dinner and maybe watch a show or two and then head to bed. I’m sick and tired of doing that routine and so I’m currently working my online business to try to change that so I can ultimately have more time to do the things I want as well as get out of debt faster although I’m currently enrolled in a debt relief program and have 3 years left before my debt is completely gone.
On top of all that, I’m getting ready to take on a leadership role at my church and going to be more active with that so as you can see, I’ve got a lot going in my life that doesn’t give me a lot of time to do a lot of the things I want. However, I do want to change my situation so I am finding the time here and there to do what needs to be done in order to make it a reality for myself.
Family and Friends Are Skeptical
There are times when we get excited about trying something new especially if it’s something that is generally not regarded as being the norm. Case in point, a traditional job versus an online business.
A lot of times we want to share with those close to us an exciting new opportunity that we’ve been given a chance to try especially if it means getting out of the traditional 9 to 5 rut. When we share news though of exciting new opportunities to make money online that could potentially replace a traditional job, those closest to us become skeptical.
There can certainly be a number of reasons for this. The people closest to you may have seen things like this before where you’ve tried something in the past to make money online or some other type of business only for it not to work (either a scam or not enough adequate training) and they see that you’ve wasted time and money.
When you discover something like Wealthy Affiliate, which teaches you the right way on how to create a long term online business, those family and friends will probably roll their eyes and say this is something else that just simply won’t work and they’ll wonder why you just won’t stick to the confines of a traditional day job just like everyone else.
It really hurts when the people you trust and love the most won’t support you in such an endeavor, at least initially. A lot of successful people in the world today had to endure those type of things when they first started out with whatever it was that brought them long term prosperity.
Sometimes, in order to get what matters most to you in life, you just have to tune them out and push ahead until their skepticism disappears. Now I’m not going to say that this will happen in every single case because there are those who will support you no matter what direction you decide to go, but be prepared in case that doesn’t happen.
I know when I first started trying to create an online business, my parents and closest friends were a little skeptical at first, but I also still continued to work my traditional jobs (and still do today) until I reach a point I no longer need to rely on my regular jobs for full time income. I think that eased a lot of their fears and they became more supportive of what I was doing.
Fear of Success
This may sound kind of crazy, but some people fear what will happen if they become successful. If you think about it, in a way it kind of makes sense. If you’ve been living pay check to check or been trying to make ends meet and then you finally find something that makes you successful and brings in an income that you’re not used to, that can be kind of a scary prospect for some.
They might worry about what to do with excess money or wonder if the people in their lives will suddenly want to mooch off of them or they might worry that they could lose it all.
Believe me when I first started at Wealthy Affiliate, I was so excited and then I started thinking of all the money I could make and how it would drastically change my life and it was kind of scary to me because then I would have to start thinking of new things I hadn’t thought of before such as maybe investing or looking into other assets, people might start asking me for money, etc.
Once I got back to reality, I realized that I needed to work hard in order to make that happen and it wasn’t something that would happen overnight. Still, in a way, it was kind of scary to think of such things all of a sudden. Nevertheless, I would rather have a healthy fear of success rather than think of complete failure (True failure is completely giving up).
Taking Consistent Action Will Change Your Life
Now you have a good idea of why taking action is so hard for so many people. In the end though, it is our doubts and fears that keep us from taking consistent action. If you can keep them at bay, you’ve won half the battle.
The best thing to do is start planning for how you want to get the things in your life that you constantly dream of. Write them down. Write down your strengths and weaknesses. What are you good at? What do you struggle with? What can you help people with the most in your life?
I’ll be honest with you, I’m not where I want to be in my life yet. I’m not making hundreds of thousands of dollars and taking dream vacations anytime I want. I still have a long way to go to get to that point, but I AM taking consistent action and I’m more willing than ever to get out of my comfort zone and learn and try new things. I’ll fall flat on my face at first, but I know I will pick myself up and keep moving forward and THAT is the key.
One of my biggest struggles and fears right now is making videos to post online, especially helpful videos. To me, I kept thinking it was the hardest thing to do and it would be such a struggle as it would be so hard to learn how to edit them and add things in and it would cost so much money for the software to do all of that. Guess what? Thanks to a recent lesson in the training I went through at Wealthy Affiliate, it was MUCH easier than I thought.
I’ve now got a brand new YouTube channel with 3 videos of my own (you don’t see my face in them at this point, but you do hear my voice and you do get to see what I want to show people) already uploaded. It wasn’t that difficult to do at all, I just had to be willing to learn and take action which is exactly what I did. My confidence is growing and I’m excited for what lies ahead. One of the things though that I’m learning is that even though I want to make money online, I also want to help people. I want to show people what can make them money online, what doesn’t make them money online and avoiding scams to where you don’t become vicitims to where it ruins lives.
It pains me so much to know that so many people, especially the elderly, fall for so many scams out there. They’ve worked so hard all their lives for the money that they have and they end up believing someone with something that turns out is too good to be true or they get scared they owe money to a government entity which turns out to be false and end up giving so much of their hard earned money away, never to return. At the financial institution I work for, I’m starting to see more and more of this and it is freightening how much it is increasing in frequency.
If I can inform as many peole as possible the best way to avoid these horrific scams that can ruin lives, I’ve done what I wanted which is to help people from becoming victims. I also want to show what truly can help you make some extra money online, things that are truly worth your time and things to stay away from. Your time and money is valuable and I don’t want people chasing after things that waste both of those. I’m willing to waste both of those to help keep you from wasting those things.
Below is a video from a person on YouTube that I follow as he has great videos that are helpful to learn how to earn money online, but this particular video relates a bit to what I’ve talked about here. It’s very inspirational, but it is very truthful. If you want to make money online (or even offline) or even feel desperation in order to make it happen, you definitely need to watch this video.
January 22, 2020 @ 3:32 pm
I’ve had all of the fears that you mentioned, but one; I’m not afraid of success since that’s my goal. But of course, things could be different for different people. So I can definitely relate.
These are real-life struggles but if we don’t overcome them, then we won’t become successful. Winners never quit and quitters never win. It’s as simple as that.
Everybody has a life and everybody, even those who are successful, come against life challenges. If somebody is successful it does not mean that they’ve had things easy. More often than not, all outsiders see is the success and not the hard work and sleepless nights behind it.
You can either make money or make excuses, never both. Just imagine if those successful people had given up? They wouldn’t be where they are not.
Thanks for sharing such an article. It lets us know that we are not alone in these struggles and it gives us somewhere to go to share our struggles and keep each other motivated.
January 23, 2020 @ 3:48 am
Reyhana, you’re exactly right! People see the success people enjoy, not the hard work they hard to endure to get there. I think of Michael Jordan in this instance, arguably the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. In his sophomore year in high school, his basketball coach cut him from the team as he said he wasn’t good enough for the varsity team. Of course it devastated him and if I remember right, he even did cry.
He did not let it stop him for long. He was more determined than ever to show everyone that he really was good enough and went to the basketball court every single day and practiced shooting, dribbling, and more. He kept at it and pushed himself even more to get better and the rest we know is history.
We have to push ourselves to reach the success and goals that we want for ourselves, even though there may be days we don’t want to. Trust me, you’ll feel better in the long run for pushing yourself harder during those times.
January 22, 2020 @ 3:33 pm
Hello Brian,
Thank you so much for this inspirational content as many like me need the courage and motivation before even seeking the know how to change our financial circumstances.
I looked around your site and saw other informative material.
Therefore, I will make sure to subscribe so that I am the first in line whenever a new article
is made available to readers.
That way, I am certain not to miss anything.
Thank you for your due diligence in making it possible
January 23, 2020 @ 3:50 am
Glad you found my post inspirational. I’m also happy to see that you like my site as a whole. I will definitely be posting more helpful stuff in the future so stay tunned.
January 22, 2020 @ 3:34 pm
It’s not bad to dream. In fact, it’s encouraged. Every great accomplishment today was once a dream but the difference, like you pointed out, is action. Continuous positive action I must add.
I have to agree with the compelling points you made about fear of failure and criticism playing a vital role in our inactions.
This is so interesting and informative.
Thanks for sharing
January 23, 2020 @ 3:52 am
Glad you enjoyed it Leo! Fear of failure, doubt, and skepticism as well as criticism by those we care about, can definitely stop us in our tracks, but we’ve got to learn to overcome them and only then will it eventually lead to
January 22, 2020 @ 3:36 pm
Fear is the strongest negative feeling that exists. Love is the counter feeling for it. You should understand that you are your first love, to love others self-love is needed. To respect others, you need to start for being respectful to yourself also.
Live is never easy, you will need to put some courage together in order to achieve your goals. It’s important to set clear goals and put them in front of you on a daily basis. Live a little part of your dream at a time.
I’m not getting 20k a month from my online business, but I’m making 600, last month it was 300, so I’m increasing by 100% on a monthly basis so far. I don’t have employees and freelancers to care for different aspects of my business, but I can take enough free time to play with my girls twice a day, whenever I’d like to.
Before complaining about not having a hat, be grateful for having your head on place!
January 23, 2020 @ 3:54 am
Hi there Juan! Glad to hear that things are moving along nicely for you! You’re exactly right in that we have to love ourselves first and foremost before we can love others. Courage is definitely what’s needed when times get
January 22, 2020 @ 3:43 pm
I must say that among all the hardest things to do, taking action, has become more like impossible because the number of things you have to think about especially the good and bad results of taking that action and I must tell for every action the possibilities that I might go wrong is high than that of it going well……so thanks for this informative article it would be of great help to the public as it has helped me
January 23, 2020 @ 3:57 am
If you think too much about all the possible outcomes of taking action or not taking action, you’ll be constantly spinning your wheels and not going anywhere. Sometimes we just have to go ahead and do it and see what happens. Sometimes we’ll fall flat on our face and other times it will surprise when it may not have been as bad as one might’ve thought. The key is to keep taking action even if it feels like it won’t succeed.
January 22, 2020 @ 3:46 pm
Many thanks to you for sharing such an excellent article with us .I agree with you because it is a very difficult thing for us to take action when we get started. But we never think why it is difficult to take action .Today, through your article, you have explained the details to us and I think my other friends, including myself, have cleared up the matter. Fear of failure begins with failure in any work in life. And who can overcome this fear of failure and fear of failure and take on the challenge then go on to succeed. I will definitely follow your article’s tips and hopefully it will not be difficult for me to take action .
January 23, 2020 @ 4:13 am
Repetition is the key and if we can take action each and every day, we can reach things we won’t most if our life. Sometimes we might have to stop and try something else and that’s ok as you’re still taking action.
January 22, 2020 @ 4:07 pm
I am glad to see your article. Your article is really unique and informative. We all love to dream. You are right, we all dream about something that we want so badly. I think we dream about the things we want most. And we have never taken great action to fulfill this dream. I am included because I too have never taken any steps to fulfill my dream. We cannot take action for various reasons. But I think now we need to take action to fulfill these dreams. Thanks for sharing. Your article has inspired me a lot. I will definitely share it with my friends.
January 23, 2020 @ 4:15 am
I’m glad my article is an inspiration for you. I know sometimes it is difficult to take action due to our circumstances, but if we want things to change then have to find a way to take the necessary action to achieve those changes.
January 22, 2020 @ 4:08 pm
Hello Brian. I have never been scared of success all my life, I know I can handle success really well. Well, one thing that took me so long to take action on some stuffs is especially finance. I am not a skeptic. Well, some persons don’t believe making money online is real, especially my dad. I proved him wrong at the beginning of this month. So I managed to get a little capital to start up what took me so long and from there I think I have really skyrocketed! I know some persons that are scared of failure. Afraid to loose their money probably because they’ve been scammed before. I am never afraid of failure. Well, I do my research before I consider a thing anyways.
I watched that long video and it’s really lovely. I had a great time watching Mark’s video. He speaks really well. I agree with him that no one is higher than another. We are all equal before God. What made the difference is that some persons have decided to go out there out of their comfort zone to make their lives better and even helping other people live better too; that’s positive impact.
I want to be that “someone” that will make the difference.
Thanks for sharing this awesome piece.
Peace out! 😄
January 23, 2020 @ 4:18 am
You can definitely be that someone that will make a difference. We all are and getting out of our comfort zone will make that happen. Sometimes our finances can definitely be a hindrance as I’ve mentioned in my post that I’m dealing with debt, but I want to eliminate that debt as fast as possible and so I’m taking action to make that dream a reality.