Action Jackson

Mark Manson, author and master of the subtle art of not giving a fuck, calls the following idea one of the most important ones he’s ever come across. Behold …

Action isn’t just the effect of motivation, but also the cause of it.

This is what he calls the ‘Do Something’ principle. And, as in many things, it appears contrary to what we think is the natural order of things. Rather than it being:

Inspiration → Motivation → Action. It actually works like this…

Action → Inspiration → Motivation

By Jove he’s done it again! If you are feeling stuck or scared about starting something or deciding anything, just do something. For example, rather than sitting around waiting for inspiration to start writing a blog and then going on a procrastination/ shame/ guilt cycle, just start with something small.

Action →

I can…

• Make some notes about potential ideas in my phone. Action breeds action…
• Think of a catchy title and save a document to the desktop under it. Action Jackson…
• Find the relevant article and copy and paste link to it. Mark Manson…

Inspiration →

Once I’ve taken the pressure of starting off by doing something, I’m more inclined to warm to the theme and ramble on a bit…As the novelist in the article (link below) says when asked how he overcomes procrastination, “200 crappy words per day, that’s it.”

 Motivation →

Seth Godin, marketing guru, says “just ship it”. Which means to send your work out into the world without waiting to try and make it perfect. Which it won’t be and then you’ll lose your nerve to ever ship it.

“Amazing ideas and incredible projects die at the hands of people who think just one more tweak, one more proofread, one more change is needed before putting that project out into the world. These people are paralysed by the resistance and can’t ship”. Seth Godin

 It seems counterintuitive to start before inspiration strikes but just start and action will breed more action. The inspiration will make the fear diminish and you’ll be motivated to finish before starting the cycle with action. Action → Etc

Thank you, dear reader, for allowing me to ship it…ship it good(ish) on a consistent basis. This is my 133^rd blog post and spoiler alert, none of them are perfect. So, just do SOMETHING!

 Much love and light and spring into Action like Action Jackson xxx Yvette

 

• Mark Manson, “The Do Something Principle”. https://markmanson.net/do-something
• What does Seth Godin mean when he says ‘to ship’? https://alexarohn.com/shipping-for-the-uninitiated/
• “Soon is not as good as now.” ― Seth Godin https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/1791.Seth_Godin
• “Action Jackson” 1988 Movie. Roger Ebert Review

“Action Jackson is a movie where some of the parts are good, but none of them fit and a lot of them stink. The movie tries for so many different effects in the course of its endless 94 minutes that I walked out feeling dizzy. What can you make of a movie that has one scene where a cop outruns a taxi cab and another one where a villain shoots his wife in the stomach while kissing her, and then keeps on kissing? What’s going on here?”

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/action-jackson-1988