#003 Why You Don’t Take Action

“Today’s article is all about Action, why we avoid taking action, and how it shapes your life.

How do you take action? In fact, why is it even important to take action? 

The most important thing about this is the power it gives to create your life. 

The aim is all about helping you to create a life that you’d not only dream of, but that you live on a day to day basis.

Getting Rid of Problems and Challenges you Face

What I see when I’m coaching people in their business or in their lives, and with their struggles, and their obstacles, whatever it is that they’re trying to do.

Even just performing at the very best that they can to create the lives they want,  everyone has this challenge, so you’re not alone. 

I consider myself a hard worker. I’m not blowing my own trumpet here. I’m just saying that’s the work ethic that  I like to have.

That means I enjoy working, but I don’t always enjoy it. There’s things I don’t like doing.

But I enjoy the process of creating my life. 

Creating your life is all about what you do and not what you think.  

Yes, thinking is definitely a huge part of it. But what you do is what creates your life. 

Some people are dreamers and they sit and watch other people live their lives. 

They dream about how they’d like to live their life. 

If you are one of the dreamers, I want you to understand that it’s just what you’ve been doing up until now.

You don’t need to be a dreamer. You can make your dreams a reality. 

Dreaming is great and it’s inspirational.

It allows you to use your imagination to create things in your mind first, before you create it in your life. 

Make Your Dreams a Reality

To have it in your life, and shape your life, and to turn those dreams into reality,  there’s only one way to do it.

Take action!

If you’re struggling or if you’ve ever struggled in any area of your life,this is for you.

Some people can be really successful in different areas of their life, but there’s one area that they’re really struggling with.

The reason I think they’re struggling in that area of their life is because they’re not taking action or they’re not taking the right action.

But we’re going to understand why.

I’ll share how your actions come about, how you can change that and how you actually have the power to do that. 

There’s a famous Hadith where the Prophet (saw) said: 

إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى  

“Indeed, actions are determined by your intentions.”

Actions are determined by those thoughts in your mind.

The ones that you’ve become resolute on, the ones that you decide to act on. 

You have millions of thoughts, you have 1000s of ideas throughout your life. And you don’t act on most of them. But the ones that you act on, come into your life. 

So you have the ability to change all of that.

Again, action is the thing that creates life.

Look at it the following way.

Focus on What You Can Control

Let’s say you’re baking a cake. 

The cake is the end result. It’s the fruits of your labour, it’s what you want in the end. 

The actions are just you putting together the ingredients. That’s all it is. 

You don’t even need to create the ingredients. You just need to bring it together in the correct order. 

Mix it and that’s all you do. 

That’s the actions that you take. As for the cake itself, the results, the fruits, and how it turns out, you’re not going to know until you’re finished baking. 

The truth is you can’t control the end product. For sure, you can try and control the end result of things. And that’s what people do. 

They try to control the end result of things. 

People struggle because they try to control everything. But you can’t control what doesn’t exist. 

What you can control is right here and now, right in front of you, which is the ingredients. 

You can power it up. Mix it and blend it and put it in whatever order you like. 

That’s what you have the ability to do. And the end result will be whatever it is.

Sometimes that will be amazing, you’ll love it and everyone else will love it. 

Other times, your cake doesn’t rise, and it doesn’t turn out how you want it. 

That doesn’t mean anything.

You may just need to change the ingredients a little, maybe take a little bit of time on what you’re doing, maybe mix it a little bit more, maybe increase the temperature. 

Because you can control the environment. 

You can create an environment so that whatever you’re trying to build, whatever you’re creating, has the ability to flourish, to grow, and to rise.

Sometimes you just have to be the chef of your life. You have to experiment and explore and you have to change things a little.

Any results you want in life are just like that cake. The outcomes that you want in life are going to be unpredictable. 

Because we don’t know the future, we don’t know how to create it.

However, you can take the necessary action to bring together all of the ingredients. At this very moment. 

That’s you taking action, you’re just bringing together the ingredients. So you learn by experimentation and by exploring.

Eventually, you’ll get something that you’re absolutely amazed with. Sometimes it’s going to be great. Sometimes not so great. 

But you have the power to take action now. You have the power to take sequential steps, one step at a time. 

You’re not going to be able to do it all together. And if you rush it you’re going to mess it up. 

So the action is what will produce the end result; the cake in your life. 

I hope you understand, I’m using the metaphor of a cake but I don’t cook or bake. 

But I create things in my life, just like you do.

If you don’t like what you see in your life right now then there’s a chance the ingredients you’ve been using up until now, aren’t the right ingredients. 

Maybe you just need to change the ingredients a little. Maybe you have the ingredients, but you’re not bringing it together in the best way.

You’re not mixing it, you’re not blending it, you’re not taking the sequential steps. 

But remember, you’ve got everything in your kitchen already. 

The kitchen of your life is full of ingredients. All you have to do is bring them together, start mixing them. 

And before you know it, you have something amazing. 

Achieve the Good Life by Doing This

Thinking about creating things in life just remains good ideas if there’s no action. You can think and think. 

But if you don’t follow up, by taking the next step, you will never produce anything. 

You’ll have loads of ingredients, but no cake. 

You are the chef of your life, you are the one creating the fruits, creating the dessert.

If you do not bring the ingredients together, then you fail. Right from the outset. 

You could have lots of ingredients but you have no cake. You can’t eat the ingredients. So it’s better to go through a learning process and end up with something that’s not what you wanted. And then you just learn and you adapt. 

You just keep changing the ingredients, change the way you do it. And before you know it, you’ll have things you love in your life. 

Understanding the “Action Formula”

It’s all about actions. So, what’s stopping you from taking action? 

Maybe you do great in different areas of your life. But there’s one area where you’re really struggling. What stops you in that area? 

Let’s go back to the Hadith where The Prophet(saw) said:

إنَّمَا الْأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى      

“Your actions are based on the intentions that you have.”

Intentions are nothing more than thoughts that you’ve become resolute in. You’ve decided that these are the things and you become intent on acting out these thoughts. 

That means that whatever results you’re getting in life is actually a direct result of the thoughts that you have in your mind. 

Whatever results you produce is a perfect result of the processes that you’ve gone through. 

Let me elaborate on that.

Imagine you have thoughts of fear. This is one of the biggest obstacles that people face. 

I know this from my own coaching practice with all of my clients, myself included.

Anytime that I’ve become, “the procrastinator,” or the one who’s not doing, and I have a good work ethic, I like to work, I like to do things systematically, but even then, even with all that, there are times when I procrastinate. 

So, it’s not unusual for anyone to put things off and not do it. And usually, there’s a reason. 

The Formula 

This is a formula that I teach all of my clients. You should try to deeply understand this because this is how life works. 

This is universal. This is the way that the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth has created you and me, all of us. 

Every one of us, regardless of colour and creed, works the same way.

So whatever results you get in life, work in one way. 

You have ideas, you have thoughts that you believe and you decide on. We’re still in the realm of your thoughts here.

So you become resolute on that. You decide on whatever. That will inevitably give you feelings. 

And let’s say you have a fearful thought like you fear taking action. 

If for example, you’re thinking, Oh, if I do this, then it’s going to turn out all wrong. That’s your thought. 

Next thing, you’re going to feel fear. 

As a result, you might procrastinate, abstain from doing anything, or you may put it off.

You may do it but not do enough of it. 

You may just take the wrong actions altogether. 

Now, here’s the formula. 

You had a thought, you had a feeling and you had actions and the results are whatever came of it.

So if your thoughts were fearful thoughts, you would have fearful feelings. And as a result of that, you took actions that reflected your thoughts and feelings. 

Your results will be exactly the end result of that whole system.

It’s perfectly in alignment with your thoughts and feelings. I use the procrastination of fear for a reason because that’s the one that people really struggle with. 

They often don’t understand it. 

Now, it may not be around fear for you, it could be totally different. 

But there’s a way to recognise what’s happening. 

Next time you’ve planned to do something, and you don’t do it. Just think for a second, What am I feeling? 

You may feel fear, you may feel ambivalence, or lack of motivation. 

You may feel some other feeling but it’s going to tell you what’s going on in your thinking. 

Your action is going to reflect your thoughts and feelings. That’s it. 

That’s human nature. That’s the way we work. 

When I work with my clients, we dig out what those feelings are and we dig out what those thoughts are. 

Once you become clear on what’s actually happening, and what’s causing you to take the actions or the inaction in your life, things are clearer. 

Once you recognise those thoughts and feelings that are motivating your actions, then you’re going to understand why you get the results that you do in life. 

If you’re looking at your life, and you’re not enjoying the results.

Maybe you don’t like what the outcomes of your life are up until now in any area, maybe you’re happy in some areas and not happy in others. 

But look at what’s going on in the area of life that you want more results in. 

It could be that you’re actually very happy with everything but you want to create or optimise your life so you become the best that you can be. 

Then all you have to do is look at the actions that you take.

You’ll know immediately what feelings you have around that. 

Those feelings come from the thoughts that you have. You can reverse engineer this to figure out what the problem is.

When I work with my clients, that’s exactly what we do. We reverse engineer it. We figure out what’s going on. 

We dig out the real problems. 

Once you can figure that out, then you know what’s standing in your way or what’s causing your behaviour. 

Behaviour is always in alignment with the way we think and feel and believe. 

You have the God-given power of mind. That’s a very powerful tool. 

Think about it. You have involuntary thoughts that come up all the time. 

The what-if this goes wrong. Or what if that happens? 

We all have these thoughts.

You have thoughts doubting whether you made the right choice or not. It’s very normal. These are involuntary. But they’re so powerful sometimes. 

Even though you didn’t choose to have those thoughts. 

But then you act upon them and you start to feel them as though they’re really in your life. 

Then your actions and your behaviour is shaped by that. 

That’s why the Hadith about actions and intentions is so important.

Your actions, the things you do, are shaped by your intentions. 

Your thoughts, what things you choose to focus on,what you become resolute in. 

If what you focus on and become resolute in is disempowering, it’s actually stopping you from creating the life that you want, the life of your dreams, then your actions are going to reflect that.

Your actions are always going to be in alignment with your thoughts and feelings. Always. It will never go against it. 

When you don’t do something, or when someone asks you why it wasn’t done. 

You’re going to say, well, because I didn’t feel like it. I couldn’t be bothered.

I wasn’t motivated, I was scared, I thought it’d produce the wrong results.

So, your actions make absolute sense when you align them to your thoughts and feelings. But you can change that because you have the God-given power of mind. 

And thought and the ability to become resolute , to become focused, to become intentional about what you want. 

If you become that way, if you focus on those resolutions, those thoughts, those seeds, they grow into feelings.

When you have an empowering feeling, your actions will always fall in alignment with that. 

You can use it in a positive or negative way. You may think you’re not an action taker but that is a false belief. 

You are absolutely an action-taker. 

You take action in accordance with your thoughts and your feelings. When your actions are abstaining, not doing something, that’s an action as well.

Not doing something, or staying away from something. 

You’re putting it off, you’re doing something else, maybe you’re distracting yourself. 

If that’s what’s going on, then that’s in perfect alignment with what you’re thinking and feeling.

Whereas if you look at any area of your life that you’re proud of, and you see you’ve actually done amazing in that area. 

You’re going to see that you have great thoughts about that area of your life. 

You have really empowering thoughts and powerful feelings that give you motivation, energy, vitality, and the drive to go. 

As a result, your actions fall in perfect alignment. 

Your actions are always in perfect alignment with what you think and feel. 

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

Do you have the ability to think, feel, and take action? Can you bring together your ingredients of life, of your dreams of what you want to create?

Of course, you can!

That’s why the Prophet(saw) said your actions are determined by your intentions.

They’re powered. They’re shaped by what you think, what you feel, what you become resolute in, what you decide on, and what you become intentional with. 

So, if you have a fear around something, reverse engineer it. Do something that you plan to do. 

If, all of a sudden you find yourself not wanting to do it, examine the feelings. Think about it, become conscious of what you’re feeling at that moment. 

Check if it’s a feeling of fear, a feeling of apprehension, a feeling of motivation, a feeling of excitement. 

Whatever it is, the feeling is giving you information about what you’re thinking.

Just look at your thoughts and you’ll know why you’re feeling what you’re feeling. 

You’ll know why you take the action that you take or the reason for your inaction.

That’s the good news. You can absolutely change this. You can change it to become the action taker. 

That is in alignment with the thoughts that you choose to believe and act upon. 

You have the ability to realise that fearful thoughts, unhappy thoughts or sad or depressed thoughts are just thoughts. 

It doesn’t mean anything about you and you can change it at any moment by focusing on what you want. 

Even when you’re not happy about one area of life or you’re feeling a little ambivalent, maybe demotivated. Even when you feel that, ask yourself what you want.

You’re always going to think of something that you want. All you have to do is think about those things that create those feelings. 

And then bring together the ingredients. 

You don’t have to create the results immediately, you just have to take the next step. You have the ability to realise that these fearful thoughts of yours are not real. 

Just look around. Can you see it? Can you touch it? Can you feel it? Is it happening right now? My guess is that you can’t. And that’s great news. 

That’s telling you it’s just a thought. That means you can just ignore it and get on taking the steps towards what you want to create. 

You can have whatever you want. And the results are always from Allah. 

The results are never in our control. 

We have the ability to become intentional about which direction life goes. And the more you create, the more actions you take, the more fruits you’re going to have. 

You just keep adjusting and changing until you get closer and closer to what you want. Almost always you’re going to find that you get far further, far greater than you could ever have imagined.

If only you would take the right steps of bringing together your ingredients and creating what you want out of life. 

You Are Never Alone

Nothing can stop you because you have powerful support. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth supports everything you do. All you have to do is ask and you’ll be given. 

You don’t know what you’ll be given but if you’re open to receiving, you will receive. 

If you’re open to doing it, you’ll find things. If you don’t do anything, you will find nothing. 

Failure isn’t doing something and then not getting what you wanted.

Failure is not doing anything, because you get nothing. 

If you never take any steps, if you never bring together the ingredients, there’s nothing. There’s no delicious cake at the end of the process, no fruits at the end. 

Whereas if you take the steps, just to bring together the ingredients of life, you don’t know the end result. You don’t know how amazing it will be. 

The fear that holds you back is not even real because you don’t know anything about the future. 

We are not God. We are people who have the God-given ability to create the most amazing things in life. 

Allah(swt) says in Surah Al Baqarah,

‘I answer the call of the one who’s calling.’

So all you have to do is ask, and you will receive.

You’re never alone. He; the Most loving, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful, is always taking care of you. 

All you have to do is ask. 

What’s stopping you? Is it fear? 

Or another feeling that you’re getting? Can it stop you? 

Or is it the choice to follow those feelings into the darkness?

You can change your mind at any point. It’s never too late. It sounds cliche, but it’s absolutely true. 

Fear is just the shadow that doesn’t exist. You, on the other hand, do exist. You matter. You have the ability to have the most amazing time right now. 

All that’s required is that you just get busy. Ignoring fear and taking action.

Doing the things, making the choice, and not allowing that fear, or that obstacle, or whatever to hold you back. 

Getting in the Game 

Life’s always up for grabs for whoever is willing to play the game of life. And everything is within your reach. 

You don’t have to be a spectator. As much as it may seem fun to watch movies. It’s actually much more fun being in the movie of life. 

That’s life, the doing. You will absolutely love your life more when you are doing things without the fear of failing, without the fear of not achieving. 

You don’t have to know what’s at the end of the tunnel. You don’t have to know what you’re going to experience in every stage of the journey. 

So don’t forget, it’s all for the action-takers. When you look at those people that you admire so much. Ask yourself if they are people who take action.

Are they people who live instead of watching others live?

Because you can be one of those at any moment. It’s just a matter of choice. You just need to decide that you want to create your life and be the one living your life. 

It’s absolutely a matter of choice. You’ve always got support there. 

I challenge you to do these tasks, to think about these things. 

Ask yourself these powerful questions because it will create for you, a life beyond your wildest imagination. 

There’s no exaggeration in that because there’s nothing limiting you.