The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. – Walt Disney
Can you imagine a world where Walt had just talked about his ideas, and never done anything about them?
What does that mean?
Well, as far as I can tell, you can talk about something or you can do something about it. All the while you are talking, you are not doing, as you haven’t yet made a decision as to what you are going to do.
That means you have to stop talking as the first step in the process. Once you’ve stopped talking, you can actually come to a decision. Then, once you’ve decided, you can finally get to the doing part.
Even if you aren’t sure about what you should do, at some point you have to try something, see what the results are, adjust your approach, then try it again. But before you can start, you’ve got to stop talking.
Why is shutting up important?
How many times have you seen something talked to death? Sometimes it’s on TV or in a movie, but what is sad is when it happens in real life. The more they talk, the less they get done, and the more time the rest of the world has to do things while they talk.
Now I’m all for discussions and talking your way through a process with others, but there is such a thing as too much. We’re talking Golden Mean here again. Neither too little nor too much talking, right? But when it’s time to stop talking, shut up and start doing.
Once you’ve stopped talking and started doing, you may well find yourself surprised at how much you actually accomplish. You might not get the exact results you were hoping for, but that’s the way life goes. Take note of what you did and what happened, then do something different next time.
Where can I apply this in my life?
This quote is kind of appropriate for today, as I started and stopped this blog post about a half dozen times before I finally got started for real. I thought about it, I scribbled some ideas on paper, crossed them out, and tried again. I thought about it some more, and then realized that I was a perfect example of what the quote was saying you shouldn’t do.
So, now that I’ve quit talking about it (either to myself, in my head, or on paper), I have actually managed to make some progress. And that’s how it tends to go, with progress happening only after you shut up and commit yourself to action.
I’ve got a couple projects involving repairs or upgrades to my car. I talked about some upgrades for the audio system for quite a while, and finally got busy and did something about it. After about two years of talking about it, I finished the first half in about two weekends.
As soon as I get something else finished, I will get the other half done. Even better is the thought that it will probably be done in about half that time, due to extensive use of templates, and having gone through the learning curve already.
What have you been talking about for a while, but haven’t quite gotten around to doing? One thing that I have noticed in my life is the greater the committment, the longer I tend to talk about it. I justify my behavior by claiming that I need to assess the possibilities, but in reality, it’s just a delaying tactic. Is it the same way with you?
Grab some paper and start a list of things you have spent a great deal of time talking about, but on which you still haven’t taken any action. Write a few things down. Try to reach into a couple of different areas of your life, from work, from home, from family, from social, or how ever you logically divide your life.
Consider what could you do to get started? Can you start with little steps, if the project is very large? Can you start with a model or a small scale test, if the project is complex or beyond your current abilities? How can you start crawling, if walking or running are not appropriate for the project at the moment?
Add a few ideas to your favorite few subjects of talk, so that you have some options when you finally stop talking about it and are ready to start doing something about it. How does that feel, do you feel a little better prepared already? I know that I did when I tried this.
Now take a moment to select what you want to work on first, and which of the options you are most interested in trying out. Congratulations, you have stopped talking and made a decision. Is it the right decision? The only way to find out is to begin the doing of your plan.
Expect a few setbacks, and the occasional disaster. Expect a lot of it to go almost right, but not quite. Pay attention, and try again. Perhaps you will get to a point where you will need to find someone more experienced and talk to them for a while. That’s fine, just be sure to remember to stop talking and begin doing.
From: Twitter, @AR_Foundation
confirmed at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/waltdisney131640.html
Photo by stracd
