Isaac Newton in his laws of motion states that every object remains in its state of rest or uniform motion unless it is acted upon by a force. This is a universal law which applies not only to objects but also to, situations and circumstances in human life. Therefore, it can equally be stated that every life situations or circumstances remain the way they are unless they are acted upon. This implies that an undesirable situation in your life will not just disappear overnight; you must take positive steps to experience a turn-around. In my previous articles, I wrote about the need for human being to exploit the power of their mind to think-out solutions to problems. I emphasized the importance of positive thinking. God has given everyman incredible power to deal with every problem he may encounter in life. This power is encapsulated in its potential form inside your mind. The potential is released in form of ideas and solutions to problems when you engage in productive positive thinking. These ideas are so powerful to the extent that they can bring about dramatic positive transformation in your life. However, as powerful as ideas can be, they are worthless unless they are acted upon. Clearly, ideas also obey the Newton’s law of motion. They need to be acted upon to transform them from abstract to reality.
Why People Don’t Act on their Ideas
Although only very few people exploit the power of their mind by engaging in productive positive thinking, fewer people actually take steps to actualize their ideas. Many people had multi-billion dollars ideas in their mind but failed to act on these ideas to make them realities. Eventually, they died with the ideas. No wonder someone said the richest place on earth is the cemetery, where you have several billionaires that never be. But why do people fail to act on ideas despite the fact that they have the capacity transform their lives? There are several reasons people fail to act on their ideas. Notable among them are: i) Fear of failure, ii) I don’t have enough time – I will do it when I have more time, iii) The situation is not perfect – I will do it when things get better, iv) Lack of willingness to challenge status quo – Play it safe, don’t take risk (a bird in hand worth two in the bush attitude.) Among these reasons, the most formidable among them is fear of failure. Therefore, I will dwell more on it.
Fear of failure
One of the major reason people don’t act on their ideas is fear of failure. Naturally, most people would not risk doing something new because they are afraid of failure. Consequently, most people with revolutionary ideas are busy looking for the perfect condition where success is certain. While they are waiting for the perfect conditions, the idea is either implemented by somebody else or expired. I think people don’t realize that most of the time ideas have life span. Ideas expire when they are not acted upon. Hence, if an idea is not acted upon within its potent period, it becomes obsolete and useless. If you have an idea and you are afraid to take action on it because of fear of failure, you need to realize that the road to success is dotted with failures here and there. So if you really want to succeed in life, just be ready to fail forward. Failing forward entails seeing the good side of failure. You need to start seeing failure as an experience, as a lesson or knowledge with a priceless value to you and others. When you try something and it does not work, you have not failed but you have only learnt how it will not work. Listen to what Thomas Edison said when he was interviewed by a young reporter who boldly asked Mr. Edison if he felt like a failure and if he thought he should just give up by now. Perplexed, Edison replied, “Young man, why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.” And shortly after that, and over 10,000 attempts, Edison invented the light bulb. Can you see the difference, someone was seeing failure but Edison was seeing knowledge, possibilities and solutions. This perspective, gave Edison the drive and the courage to persist. And eventually he succeeded. If you really want to experience positive transformation, you need to be courageous, get out of your comfort zone, confront your fear and take action. Remember, that the consequence of your failure to take action now will not only impact you but several generations after you. Imagine what the world will be like without windows in computers, or if Henry Ford did not revolutionize how cars are made or if there are no cell phones, or if there are no those life saving breakthroughs in medical field. All these are ideas from other people which were acted upon. It is your turn to contribute your own quota to humanity. Don’t allow that idea to die or expire. The time will never be better; neither will the conditions be perfect. Take actions, impact the world, make your life count and realize your dream. Thank you for reading.
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Muyiwa Okeola
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Another masterpiece. Thank you