“Just do it…”
That’s been Nike’s slogan for years, expressing our inner athlete. The desire within us to win, to achieve, to accomplish what we didn’t think possible.
But it’s much more than that. It’s actually the Golden Rule of Success.
We are all familiar with the Golden Rule, the one taught to us by our parents and teachers as kids: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
A good rule no doubt. You hit me, I hit you…so don’t hit me.
But when it comes to the golden rule of success, it says something quite different. Quite simply, it’s this, “do nothing, get nothing.”
I read a lot. I study a lot. I think a lot. But in the end, this blog, the interviews I do, the videos I make, the lectures I give and the materials I create are what matters.
Without the DOING, it doesn’t go anywhere.
Just last month I finally put together my financial seminar in video form and made it available to the public. I also released the iSucceed audiobook (with two never before released interviews and a special hour-long marketing secrets audio).
That’s doing something.
It takes time and it’s scary (because people will judge you on your products) but it’s where the magic happens. All the hours of study, of thinking turned into something that can be shared with others. Something tangible that people can use over and over again and get incredible value from. The knowledge in your head may benefit you, but it doesn’t benefit others. It’s only when you take the time to write, speak, or create that your knowledge becomes valuable to another.
I’m a big believer in the saying “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.”
The problem is most of us just want the fish. We don’t care how we get it. We just want it and that’s it.
But by doing so, we create a sense of dependency in people. No longer will they go in search of fish or how to fish, but rather just wait to be given fish and focus their energies elsewhere. Much like a little child who doesn’t have to cook dinner, go to work, clean the house or all those things adults do. For a child, the wake up each morning and food is magically on the table, the dust fairies have paid the house a visit, and a few times a year toys arrive.
To a child money means very little. They don’t understand it. All they know is life for them is pretty good. And that’s a good thing because reality is much harder than that.
I know many people struggling to make a living. I’ve been there myself with bankruptcy staring me in the face. I’ve also lots a sizable amount of money in a ponzi scheme you may recall. But that’s life.
We have to pick ourselves back up, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and get back to work.
In the real world, fish aren’t going to miraculously appear overnight. We must seek them out and (if we’re smart) figure out a way to make fishing easier for ourselves.
That’s where education comes in.
Naturally, being an educator for over 20 years now, I do believe in getting educated but I have also seen people waste countless hours studying the wrong thing so it’s not good enough to just study, but study the right things.
But even studying with the best mentors and mastering all the skills won’t do you an ounce of good if it’s not put to work.
Studying is the first step, but the last is action.
Jim Rohn, my mentor, talks about the 5 pieces to the life puzzle:
- Philosophy (aka mindset)
- Attitude
- Activity
- Results
- Lifestyle
I couldn’t agree more. Studying is in stages one and two. Philosophy is learning what to do, attitude learning how to apply what we learn effectively. Then comes the secret sauce, or as I like to call it, the Golden Rule: action.
There is no getting around it. Search as we may, there’s no magic pill here. There are lots of shortcuts along the path to success but not when it comes to the doing.
We have to, as Nike puts it so succinctly, “Just do it.”
Takes on a whole new meaning, doesn’t it?
Adrian Shepherd