Beep. Beep. Beep. Your alarm goes off. You roll over to hit the button you press every day…snooze. Except this time you stop. You count…1…2…3. You jerk upright. You’re not going to hit snooze today.
You slowly get up and your thoughts come to your mind. I’m tired. Why didn’t I hit snooze. I want to go back to bed. You go into the bathroom. Now that you’re up, you won’t go back to bed, even though it’s temping.
You only have three seconds to take action, move forward, or make a change. After those three seconds are up, you’ll talk yourself out of doing it. You’ll come up with any and every reason why not to do it, why it won’t work, or how you’ll fail. And so you’ll keep doing the same things you’ve been doing in the exact same way, hoping and praying something will change this time. But it doesn’t.
Three seconds. Three seconds. That’s all you have. You want to start a conversation. You want to introduce yourself. You want to ask for the sale. You want to close the deal. You want to write a book. You want to start a business. You want to share how you feel. You want to get help.
There are tons of things you want, but you don’t get them, because you talk yourself out of them. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. SHARE THIS!
You think it’s a great idea. You’re going to do it. Everyone is going to love it. Everyone is going to love you. We need this idea. It will change lives. It will make a difference. It can impact millions of people. Yes. Now is your time. You can do this. In fact, you’re going to do it. You’ll kick ass and take names.
By the time you say all of that to yourself, you’ve also convinced yourself it’s a horrible idea. No one is going to like it let alone love it. No one is going to like you. No one really needs this idea; it’s been done better by others. It won’t make that big of a difference. No one will even buy it, because no one really needs it. You’ll just do it later. You’ll probably fail when you do it, because you don’t have the experience or you don’t really know how to do it. So why bother anyways. Maybe another time.
So you don’t do it, and then you’re in the same place you were six months or even a year ago. Unhappy, unfulfilled, and wondering if there’s more out there for you. You want more. You just don’t know how to get it, so you don’t take action. You allow your negative inner dialogue talk you out of everything. Three seconds. That’s all you have to decide. Three seconds to take action. Three seconds to make something bigger happen. Because if you haven’t moved, done something, taken action in three seconds, you won’t do it. At least not this time.
You have 60,000 thoughts that go through your mind a day. Eighty percent are negative. Stop thinking so much. Stop analyzing. Take more action. The more you think about things…what if I fail, what if it doesn’t work, what if no one likes me…the less likely you are to take action.
That’s worth repeating. The more you think about things, the less likely you are to take action. Get out of your own head. Stop thinking. Just do. Stop your thought in their tracks. That’s the only way change will happen, when you quit the thinking process and turn it into action.
Next time you want to pick up the phone to call someone, ask for a raise, or start a conversation. Stop wondering how it will happen or what the other person will say. Get out of your head and into your body. Let your body do the talking when you dial the number, go into your boss’s office, or walk across the room.
Change will instantly happen, not only in the action itself, but in your confidence. Your confidence increases when you take action…imperfect action. Once you take action, you can adjust, correct, and tweak along the way.
Three seconds. That’s all you have. Three seconds to stop thinking. Three seconds to take action. Three seconds to change your life. What will you do with the next three seconds?
We want to hear from you. What do you talk yourself out of doing? How can you take action on it today?
Jessica Rector’s mission is simple: transform lives. With a BBA, MBA and BS, Jessica started, hosted, and produced her own TV talk show in Los Angeles with just an idea to help others which launched her first company jessICAREctor International. As someone who attempted suicide as a teen, had a lot of self-judgment around being a single parent, and has a brother who died by suicide, Jessica knows challenges, issues, and pain and how to turn them into something good. Through her own experiences, research, and strategies, she helps you break through your inner struggles and free yourself. As a thought leader, keynote speaker, and author, Jessica consults with companies, coaches individuals, and speaks at conferences, conventions, and organizations helping you change what you say to yourself about yourself to change your thoughts and actions to change your life. Jessica is a Contributor for The Huffington Post and The Good Men Project and has been seen on ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, Business Journal, and Market Watch. Get Jessica’s third book, Breaking the Silence: Taking the Sh out of Shame at jessicarector.com. Follow her on Facebook by CLICKING HERE.
