A Call To Action (or Apathy…meh)
Several things have been conspiring against me this year, forcing me to face my own apathy.
To be sure, owning and running a business is a very good call to action against apathy – if you don’t work, you don’t eat. However, there have been many new ways that I have tried to push myself in 2011, and I’m a much better person because of it. But there is always more that can be done.
I was recently in a conversation with some family members – the conversation involved some suspected criminal activity in their community. The police couldn’t (or wouldn’t) act without specific complaints. Members of the community were doing a wonderful job of spreading gossip, but nobody would pick up the phone and call the police. There was a lot of talk about “something needs to be done”, but nobody willing to put themselves on the line and do something. The crimes involved petty theft, theft of a firearm, and the welfare of an 8 year old girl. Something needs to be done.
I’m taking Krav Maga right now – a form of self-defense developed by an Isreali before and during WWII. Many of the moves are responses to being attacked, and we do a lot of chokes. In practice, our instructor asks us to choke our partners – it must feel real. Despite this request, there are still some people who don’t really squeeze hard. Not only is the training more effective if you squeeze, the defenses actually work better against a tighter grasp.
In both of these cases, the problem is people not caring enough to act. Everybody has their reasons, and I’m in no position to judge their reasons – it’s none of my business. However, it is my responsibility to phone the police when I notice something wrong, and to make sure that I squeeze hard when I choke.
Last week I went for lunch with Dan Bowman, and he challenged me to act decisively on something that I’ve been thinking about lately. He told me that I’m not the only one capable of doing this thing, and that the first person who acted would ultimately be the victor. It’s true. Ghandi told us to “Be The Change You Want To See In The World” and Stephen Covey tells us that change comes from within and that we affect the outside world by changing ourselves.
I often mention to my clients that ideas are effectively worthless. Not completely worthless perhaps, but effectively worthless. That’s because until you do something with the idea, you might as well not even have it. I had many ideas this year, most of which I did nothing with. Other ideas, like a book on Bad Bosses, I did some stuff with, but no where near enough. On that last idea I lost TONS of potential exposure because of a movie that had a similar idea.
That’s not to say that I did nothing, however. I DID use social media to organize an event for the Regina Food Bank – I got nearly 300 people together on a Sunday afternoon to dress up like zombies and shamble across the city. It was covered by radio, TV, and print media. Most importantly, it raised 1300 lbs of food for the needy. I did enroll in a very aggressive form of self-defense classes, training my body and mind. I did put on my first social media workshop, which was a success and got excellent reviews from the attendees. Of course, I continued to take chances on my own business and promote myself to prospective clients.
But, in all honesty, I could have done more. There were periods of time lost to Twitter and StumbleUpon. Opportunities that I neglected. Bigger and better things that I could have tried.
I’m now looking toward 2012. Rather than making resolutions, this year I’m going to make goals that I will work toward throughout the year.
I humbly suggest that you do the same. Stop thinking about new ideas. Take 5 of the best ideas that you currently have, and take strong action on them. Launch a new product. Hire that new sales rep you’ve been thinking about. Go out and ACT. Strongly. Decisively.
This will be my last post before Christmas, so Merry Christmas. If you don’t celebrate or celebrate other things, Happy Holidays. Between now and the New Year, try to develop a plan to act on an idea. You will not regret it.
