Just do it

    Karl Morris

    By taking the smallest of actions every day real change and achievement can be made, writes Karl Morris. 

    At times it can all seem a bit much. We listen to other people and hear about the ‘state of the industry’, we switch on the news and we hear about the potential post Brexit apocalypse, we see the latest comedy sketch from Washington that has now become anything but funny. It is so easy to become drawn into the enormity of what may or may not happen in the future. The problem with this, as I have personally experienced, is the more we are drawn into a perceived mental future scenario the less we actually do in the here and now.

    In times like this it can be easy to withdraw into the familiar and stay with exactly what we know. The paradox is the more we cling onto what we know the more the potential of the future can evade us. It is a well-worn cliché, but if you do what you have always done then you will get what you have always got. In many ways the more we think, the less we actually do! It is easy to become a thinking machine, always planning, always coming up with new ideas but what do we actually do with so many of these great ideas?

    It is tremendous to see some golf pros having significant success through the opportunity of social media as they reach a vast audience with the power of the internet. Often though when you hear about these YouTube and Instagram stars the story of how they began is very familiar. They just put out their first video and then they put out their next video. One video turned into two and two turned into twenty two. The key was they took action and then they kept on taking action. They did something as opposed to thinking about doing something and, a couple of years later, they had become overnight successes!

    I heard recently about a prolific writer who had published over seventy novels – when asked about the secret of his success he merely said, ‘200 damn words per day’. He committed himself to writing a measly two hundred words a day. He would sit down and even though some days it was like walking through treacle he took action and, as you can imagine, the two hundred words turned into an awful lot more. Some days it was only two hundred words but other days it would be thousands of words. The key was that the action created the mindset. He didn’t wait for inspiration, he didn’t wait for the right time, he didn’t wait for the writing gods to give him a great idea; he just simply sat down each day and took action.

    If you are 100 per cent happy with your business then this does not apply to you; you just need to keep repeating what you are doing and enjoying what you are doing. However if you wish to push on and explore some new possibilities then have a think about the direction you wish to go in and plan on taking some action. If you have a book in you, and believe me there has never been an easier opportunity to become a published author than now, then at the very least sit down, come up with a title and aim to write your first sentence. Nothing grander than that, get the first sentence out and then you will probably feel like writing the second. You may not become a best-selling author but writing a book can really help clarify your own ideas and concepts and it is a wonderful addition to your marketing strategy.

    If you hand people your business card they may take notice of you, if you hand people the book you have written they will take notice. You don’t even need to go to the expense of actually printing the book these days. People are now very used to downloading an e-book and the message can still be just as strong. If you have an interesting life story then do the world a favour and tell it. I read recently about a neurosurgeon called Henry Marsh who wrote a book about his experiences as a surgeon. He wrote a book called ‘Do no harm’ about his successes and his failures as a surgeon, the ups and downs of day to day life and to his own amazement it became a best-seller. People like to read about people who have been though the ups and downs of a rich and fulfilling life. Of course writing a book is not for everyone but you get the point of where I am going with this. Just the smallest action today can create the momentum for something special tomorrow. A good many of us – and I include myself in this – need to think a little bit less and actually do a little more.

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    Miles is the Owner and Managing Director of Robel Media, and the award winning GOLF RETAILING Magazine. With over 25 years in the media business, Miles has a wealth of experience in magazine publishing, digital media and live events. HANDICAP - 7.2