Okay I’ll go ahead and finish the sentence:
The World Doesn’t Pay You For What You Know but for What You Do. I guess we would all acknowledge the truth of that and yet I am amazed at the number of people I run into who are bogged down in analyzing, learning, planning and organizing when what they really need to do is take action. I think more than anything else that’s what separates winners from losers – the winners take action.
I saw Jack Canfield demonstrate this one time in a seminar. He held up a $100 bill and asked, “Who wants this $100 bill?” People all over the room said, “I do” or “Please pick me.” And Jack just stood there waving that $100 bill and kept asking “Who wants this $100 bill?” Finally, someone jumped out of there seat, ran to the front and grabbed it out of his hand. He then asked, “What did she do that no one else did?” Right, she took action.
If you were in that room you may share in the reasons given by those still in their seats:
- “I didn’t want to look like I needed it that badly.”
- “I wasn’t sure if you would really give it to me.”
- “I thought someone else would get there first.”
- “I figured there must be a trick someone – you wouldn’t really give it away.”
- “I didn’t want to look greedy.”
- “I was waiting for further instructions.”
And then Jack gently pointed out that the things we say to ourselves are probably the same things we are saying that are stopping us in other areas of our lives. If you are cautious here, you are probably cautious everywhere. If you hold back for fear of looking foolish, you probably hold back for fear of looking foolish in most situations. If you needed more instructions here, you probably find yourself needing more instructions before moving ahead. If you assume it’s already been done or someone else will surely beat you to it, you may be missing more unique opportunities.
Henry Ford said “You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
Any success I’ve had has come as a result of just doing something – most of the time before I had done a lot of research or planning. The first version of 48 Days to the Work You Love had an ugly blue cover printed at Kinkos, held together with a spiral binding. Then we added a free-standing cassette recording that I did at a friend’s house. No editing, no correcting, no music intros. We just did it and people started buying. If I had waited until I knew how to do everything right I probably would have missed the first $1 million in sales.
One of the hottest topics I’m dealing with right now is people who are “over-educated” and frustrated because companies don’t care what they know. Those companies only care about what you can DO. In working on the revision of 48 Days (to be released January 2015) I have heard from tons of hiring managers who are frustrated by candidates who lead with their degrees rather than with what they can do to contribute to the organization.
What do you need to start DOING to stand out in your company, your business, your family, your community?
