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- ADAPT #37 - 🤘 From INACTION to IN-ACTION
ADAPT #37 - 🤘 From INACTION to IN-ACTION
Gus Balbontin
May 30, 2024
By Gus Balbontin
Hey!
Today I want to dive deeper into one of the main challenges I help people with:
Going from INACTION to IN-ACTION
One of the hardest things we all struggle with is starting and sticking with something.
INACTION is the enemy of novelty, innovation, progress, health, friendships, that recipe you never tried, your garden, holidays, your messy wardrobe, the love of your life, your next job, the startup that never was, the haircut you don’t dare, the gym, yoga, meditation, learning a new skill…so many things.
INACTION is what keeps us on the wrong path even when we know it’s the wrong path. Master inaction and fit more of the good stuff in your life!
So let’s think about some of the things we can do to go from:
INACTION
to
IN-ACTION!
Guiding the way to taking action xD
Small - Simple - Now
You have heard me say this a million times and I have even encouraged people to get a tattoo with this simple mantra!
Whatever it is you are trying to do, make it smaller, make it simple and act on it immediately - the bigger you make it, the more you complicate it, the better the chances of you delaying and getting a coffee instead.
Turn up
Focus less on what it is you need to achieve and more on just turning up.
Once you are “there” it gets easier to at least do something, even if it’s not the exact thing, it is at least a step towards it. The hardest thing with new things is actually turning up!
Let me give you two examples:
Trying to get fit has you worried and thinking about what you are going to do. Instead, just set a pattern and try to turn up - say every day for 10min. So every day find that 10min gap and turn up, do three push ups, run around the block, doesn’t matter - just turn up and break the inaction - the rest will come.
Wardrobe a mess? Don’t think of the entire wardrobe looking perfect and how much you have to do to sort it out - just turn up and tidy up one drawer, half a drawer! Makes no difference - do this every day and before you know it your wardrobe will be sorted.
Ask for help
We are all really good at giving help but generally shit at asking for help.
Weirdly enough… think about it, if someone uses the words “help me with” it’s unlikely you will respond with “no sorry” - but we rarely ask.
Let me give you an example. For the last few months, I have really been struggling with my fitness. After almost a decade of obsession, injuries and excuses crept in and I am finding myself doing less, which then annoys me and I feel down. So I asked a friend to please text me and plan to work out with me every day. Today I am travelling, so he sent me a yoga video to complete ❤️
I better do it! Haha!
(Pssst… if you need help taking action and accountability, check the info on my Career Rebellion Workshop below... we’re kicking off the next cohort in June!)
Fuck the outcome
Care less about the outcome and more about the journey!
We can’t help ourselves, we let our minds run wild imagining what the end state looks like, only to be frustrated when we realise that getting there takes weeks, months, years of regular consistent effort.
So we give up before we start letting inaction win!
So, imagine the journey to get there, find the positives and smile at the struggles and challenges you know you will face, think about the new friendships or skills or new perspectives you will gain from just going along, let alone achieving the goal.
I suffer severely from this terrible disease. I’m always “fuck the roses I’ll smell them later” hahahaha
Time excuses
I know it’s easy to blame time and say “I have no time” - truth there isn’t more or less time!
Time is the same, always, for everyone. We exist in spacetime, we are it. (Technically time is relative so it can be distorted but let me tell you that another time ;-)
What stops you from starting?
I reckon it’s actually the cognitive overload of business as usual… the shit you do every day over and over again without even thinking if it’s worth doing or not doing.
We often call this cognitive overload “HAVENOTIME” - but like I said above, you actually didn’t have any more or less time, you just didn’t have the cognitive space to prioritise better.
BAU owns you and decides on your behalf what you are or not doing.
So… stop using time as an excuse and prioritise ACTION!
CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK:
Whatever it is you’ve been wanting to do… just fuck*** do it, go, start NOW!!!!
There… I hope you liked and found useful this week’s email… now go and take action!
Love
Gus
Ps. Ready to take action but need some help??
For the past few weeks, I’ve been promoting a program that I honestly believe is a life changer.
And my beliefs are backed by the amazing feedback and testimonials from past participants and my private executive clients.
If you know me, you know I don’t like being salesy… I don’t like self-promoting much and even feel it cringe.
But I TOTALLY BELIEVE in this program because I know it has a HUGE IMPACT on everyone who goes through it.
My Career Rebellion Workshop is the perfect space to help you go from INACTION TO IN-ACTION.
I’m kicking off the next cohort on June 11th and it will run during 4 online live sessions PLUS a one-on-one coaching session privately with me!
Spots are limited to ensure an intimate and personalised setting for the group.
Also, I understand that maybe you’re not ready yet to commit to the full program.
Don't worry! I’ve got your back as well. I ran a 1-hour free session about the topic, and uploaded it for everyone to watch for free and I even included a free downloadable resource to start working on pulling your future towards you instead of sitting and waiting for it to “happen” (available in the same link!).
If you have any questions or would like to know more about it, feel free to reply to this email and me or someone from my amazing team will get in touch to hop on a call and tell you everything about it.
Join me to transform inaction into in-action!
My recommendations:
1) Neu21’s “Culture Can’t Be Fixed” FREE event series continues kicking ass!!! (for real, we’ve already had 2 extremely successful events and now we’re going for the third one!!)
Join my colleagues Eduardo Nofuentes & Martine Sholl as they reveal the secrets to navigating complexity through how you think, not what you do.
🚀 Key Takeaways:
Discover what influence over authority really looks like
Underscore your leadership with authenticity & empathy
See the power of systems thinking in unlocking complex environments
Build a more resilient organisation
This event is for Leaders, managers, & change-makers ready for a new leadership paradigm!
2) I’ll use this space to share some of the Career Rebellion program testimonials.
Check them out:
Thank you for the energy you brought to the Career Workshop. I've gained from it in more ways than just my career, and I'm grateful for the thought and care that went into the programme.
The Career Portfolio workshop has provided clear actions to change course and build the career (and lifestyle) I would like. It has given me the confidence to believe that I can make the needed change. Since the workshop ended, I have taken three small actions and feel comfortable that the Simple, Small, Now approach will get me to where I want to be while stopping to smell the roses.
Gus, thank you for your passion, time, wisdom and authenticity.
Participating in a group forum added a tremendous amount of value and education. It's impact at this early stage can only be measured by means of the workshop sessions and learnings attained - the real work starts now in applying those learnings (which has begun).
The younger me could have benefited doing this course in my late 20's or early 30's. I genuinely feel that I missed the boat and now I'm correcting the steer with what I can do now both professionally and in personal like.
Useful framework, easy to follow and makes total sense.
It’s for anyone who feel stuck / plateau or in my case when I didn’t feel fire in my belt.
Would absolutely recommend. It's been a great help. I think the principles can be applied at any stage of a career. It teaches you how to set pathways and make decisions based on goals, desires, and needs. The vague goals actually turned out to be the clarifier for me. It made me sit down and actually think about what I want in my career stage.
The next group kicks off in JUNE, this is the calendar:
Session 1 (Kick Off) - Tuesday 11th June
Session 2 - Friday 14th June
Session 3 - Friday 21st June
Session 4 - Friday 28th June
PLUS a 1 HOUR 1-on-1 coaching session with me (booked later based on your availability)!
Oh… and more testimonials:
MADE IT THIS FAR?! YOU CAN GIVE ME FEEDBACK WITH ONLY 1 CLICK:
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