Category: Being Action Oriented

Being patient is a strategy that prioritizes future benefits over immediate gains. Being passive is choosing to have no strategy… and just allowing things to happen without any action on your part.

Being patient is being persistent in the face of injustice and taking action time and time again to make a change that faces a lot of resistance. Being passive is being a bystander and allowing injustice to happen.

Being patient is working day in and day out to realize a dream that requires consistent—oftentimes monotonous—work to be done. Being passive is hoping things work out without a plan.

Being patient is giving the person you like reasons to like you back—without crowding them or being annoying. Being passive is not saying anything to the person you like.

Inner Work Prompt: When it comes to the different domains in your life… are you being patient? …Or are you really just being passive?

---

P.s. ICYMI you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

In the opening scene of the movie Up, we’re immersed in a five minute recap of the life and love shared between the two main characters of the story: Carl and Ellie Fredricksen.

If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s must watch animation. Here’s a link.

For whatever reason, this scene popped into my mind today as I was thinking about life and love and relationships (once you’ve seen it, you’ll understand) and it got me thinking about Carl and Ellie’s dynamic.

The above link doesn’t show it, but essentially Ellie comes crashing into Carl’s life when they’re kids and just lights up his world. She’s talkative, energetic, and filled with a contagious sense of adventure. Carl doesn’t talk much, is portrayed to be a little awkward, and seemingly defaults to routine and what’s comfortable.

…Inside each of us is both a “Carl” and an “Ellie,” eh?

What I got to thinking about as I replayed this dynamic is how important it is to try and nurture the “Ellie” that’s inside. Not that there’s anything wrong with the “Carl,” but waiting for an “Ellie” to come crashing into and light up your life simply isn’t a good strategy.

The one that tends to show up is simply the one we choose to feed with the nourishment of our attention and energy. There was a point in my life, for example, when I could distinctly identify as being mostly “Carl.” But, since I’ve started nourishing my inner “Ellie”… I’ve made so many new connections and experienced countless incredible adventures.

Which is all to say… being the “Ellie” who does the crashing and lighting up… my friend… is an excellent strategy.

If you look at motivation as something that happens to you… something you wait for to arrive… something like lightning that strikes when it strikes…

…Then you’re going to live with so much unrealized potential.

Motivation isn’t something you should expect to happen to you anymore than you should expect a charge to happen to your phone.

Wait for lightning to strike a charge into your phone and you’re going to live with a dead phone.

…Which is what so many of us are doing: living with dead potential.

And not because we don’t care… I think we all want to realize our potential… but, mostly because we don’t know how to activate and grow our potential.

The motivation required to do the things that help us realize our potential is something we make happen to ourselves… it’s something we actively seek out… it’s something that simply requires a (re)charge…

And rather than wait for motivation to strike:

• We create a space for our creative work… and we honor it—through boredom, busyness, and curveballs.
• We team up with people who can hold us accountable, challenge us to grow, and be there to support us when we’re down and want out.
• We watch videos, listen to podcasts, read books, etc., of people who get us charged up rather than mindlessly consume passive entertainment on the socials.
• We can commit to a daily habit and start a streak. Momentum is an undeniably powerful thing, and if we can lean into its power, we can start a process forward that becomes self-sustaining.

…What else? What gets you charged up? How can you actively incorporate these ideas into your daily practice?

Stop waiting.

Go ahead and talk your talk.

Say what you’re gonna say.

String together some dressed up words and print it on your fancy parchment paper.

…It might catch you a look, return you a call, or get you a foot in the door.

But, what it will not do is walk those feet of yours forward… do the following through on the things you promised you’d do… be what parchment paper is supposed to be to regular paper in real life.

The proof is in the pudding, homie.

So enough with the announcements… spare me the overzealous promises… forget the résumés…

And show me something tangible. Give me a track record. Let’s take a look back and show me how your dots actually connect.

…Words? Words have never been easier. A few clicks and AI can have that done for you in no time.

…Which also means that action? Well, now… it means that actions have never been more valuable.

…To unleash all that you are inside.

Each day that passes that doesn’t involve you realizing more of your potential, sharing your unique gifts, expressing yourself more authentically, and/or connecting more deeply with others is a day that fades to black in the timeline of your life.

…A day that vanishes from your memory.

…A day that never makes it to your eulogoy.

…A day that may only permeate into the well of your regret.

There isn’t much time left.

Do something today that’ll help you realize all that you are inside.

---

P.s. In case you missed it, you can read the best of what I posted to MoveMe Quotes last week, here.

Never let a day go by without having taken at least one step towards self-actualization and your greater goals.

One step forward, every day, should be the strategy; the mantra; the resolution.

It’s that one deliberate action taken today, done with that greater future in mind that proves you’re serious about the realization of those goals.

And it’s the consistency of choosing to do it every day that proves you’re ready to take on the full scope of what those goals will demand.

Because visions of a greater future minus seriousness only leaves a person unable (unready) to handle the demands of what that greater future will require.

…Which isn’t to say your greater future will be demanding and burdensome… it’s merely to say your greater future will demand the greatest from you / of you.

…Demanding and burdensome is what happens when you step into that vision before you’re ready and able and you’re left scrambling trying to be someone you’re not (yet) and attempting to solve problems you’re not evolved / qualified enough (yet) to solve.

But, when you are at your greatest, your life’s greatest challenges become the usual; the norm; the expectation; the task that’s equal to your ability; the challenge that’s equal to your strength.

…And what better place to be than actively solving the greatest (most exciting) problems your current self only has the ability to visualize?

---

P.s. Don’t have a clear picture of where you want to go in life? My guide can help. 30% off for a limited time.