Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you

Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. ― Thomas Jefferson

What does that mean?
Did you ever wonder what kind of person you are or wish to be? Did you ever wonder what you want to be when you grow up, or at least when you grow older? Have you thought about a career, done research, poured over the results, and pondered the decision? All that you are doing is thinking.

The quote urges you to stop wondering and go out and do something. The things you actually do will define who you are, and who you will become. It will delineate (to draw or make a sketch of) what you are and what you want to be. In other words, that shoe company stole it’s catch phrase from the 3rd President of the United States of America. Just do it? Yep!

Why is action important?
What are we, if not the things we do? Would Alexander the Great be considered all that great if he hadn’t been in the front lines leading his troops across the face of the planet, defeating foe after foe? Would we even know his name if all he had done was sit and think, and draw up battle plans?

This quote doesn’t diminish the value of thought, but cautions against an excess of it. Yes, think before you act, but you must also act. Without action, no one can tell if you’re thinking deep thoughts or day dreaming, right? By acting, you become known for what you have done.

Where can I apply this in my life?
This “action not words” is a problem of mine. I will gladly plot and plan, but sometimes I don’t even get around to the execution of the plan. I do all the thinking, but fail to act. Oh, I have my excuses, but that’s all they are, excuses not reasons.

When I was a kid, the Apollo program was getting started and more of us wanted to be an astronaut than wanted to be cops and soldiers combined! However, as time went on, few of us acted on that stated desire. We talked about it, but never did anything about it. Especially when we found out just how tough it was to get in!

What have you talked about, and that you really want to accomplish, but have failed to act on? Grab some paper and write down a couple things. Try to get a couple small ones, a few medium ones, and at least one big thing.

Have you wanted to learn to dance, sing or act on stage? Have you wanted to compete in a bicycle race, a triathlon or a marathon? Have you talked about losing weight? Have you talked about learning a language or a musical instrument?  Brainstorm and come up with things from your childhood or yesterday, things you wanted to do.

Let’s start with an easy one, shall we? You can always repeat the exercise with the others as soon as you finish with this one. Write down the objective clearly and with some emotion. I would think that saying “I really want to learn to tap dance, because I love to move my feet and it looks like so much fun!” would work better than “I think I want to learn to tap dance.”

Write that down at the top of a different paper, so you have a statement about what you want to do and why you want to do it. Why? Because if you’re like most of the people I know, life’s ups & downs will take their toll, and at some point you’ll ask yourself “why am I doing this?” This sentence is your answer.

Now it’s time to sketch out a quick plan, continuing with the tap dance example. What’s your budget? How much time can you apply to this task each week (both at the studio and practicing at home)? What’s your goal (just to be able to do enough to impress your friends, or are you looking to play Carnegie Hall)? How soon do you want to get to that level of expertise? Now take a look at the answers and see if there are any contradictions. You’ll have to fix those before you go much further.

Once the preliminaries are both decided and playing well together, you have an idea what you want to do. Now it’s time to flesh out the details. What steps can you break the task into? For tap, you might want to visit a few studios, discuss finances, times and the level of effort necessary to make it happen. Then take the lessons. Then go play Carnegie Hall. 8)

Now get busy. Take the first step and make it happen. This quote is all about action, so get busy. Check the web for information. Make a phone call. Take action!

From: Twitter, @AR_Foundation
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/t/thomasjeff120901.html
Photo by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Dancer: Valerie Lunz – Date: June 22, 2011 – Photo Credit: NASA/GSFC/Bill Hrybyk