“Do exactly what you would do if you felt most secure.”

- Meister Eckhert

Ifyou were sure that any action you took would succeed, what would you do? Think about it. Return to this question often and see if your answers square with what you are doing. Are you boldly going for it, or are you cautiously playing it safe?

Playing it safe can seem like the mature thing to do. When we try to play it safe, we often settle for a lesser goal with a clear path. Failure isn’t the problem, low aim is.

If you were confident you could not fail, there would be no hesitation between your initial bold thought and starting the actions that would make it real.

Operate from a mindset poised for action. The cost of making a mistake is far less than doing nothing.

Whatever you think you can do, do it. If you have a choice between a bold course of action and a tentative, cautious one, choose the bold one. Boldness has power and magic in it.

Like Nike says: Just Do It. Develop a bias toward action.

“Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.”
— Charles F. Kettering

Don’t be too concerned with whether it is the perfect thing to do. Do it and measure its effectiveness and results and course-correct as needed. Imperfect action beats perfect inaction every time.

Don’t be too concerned with making mistakes. As IBM founder Thomas Watson said: “The way to increase your success is to double your failure rate.” You will gain valuable experience and learn along the way.

This is how Tony Robbins sums it up:

“Success is the result of good judgment.

Good judgment is the result of experience.

Experience is often the result of bad judgment.”

You miss every shot you don’t take, so take lots of them. Take massive action towards your goals. The best way to increase your success is to increase your failures. It’s a numbers game. Given enough attempts, something has to happen. Fail until you don’t.

Thomas Edison is an excellent example of embracing this type of fearless attitude. Edison said he learned 10,000 ways not to make a light bulb. He succeeded by relentless trial and error, until it was trial and succeed. You only need to be right once.

Successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs call it iterating and pivoting. You come up with an idea, try it out ASAP, measure the results quickly, and double down if it is working and try something else if the results are less than you anticipated. Sometimes it’s a refinement, and sometimes it is something entirely different.

You don’t have to do things sequentially (one at a time). Try multiple things at once and see what sticks. Get inventive and creative. The penalty for inaction is much higher than the price of a mistake. It’s all about learning 10,000 ways not to be successful if that’s what it takes.

The Colonel

Colonel Sanders’ story is an inspiration. He didn’t start making his KFC empire until he was 65. He began when most people are winding down their careers. He covered the country talking to restaurant owners about using his chicken recipe for a year and a half and over 1,000 rejections before he got his first interest.

That is perseverance.

It was perseverance with learning. Colonel Sanders didn’t use the same pitch each time. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. After every rejection, he refined his offering and pitch until he got it right and compelling. He learned. Just do it.

The Colonel built from there. Ray Kroc built the McDonalds empire in a similarly relentless manner. Check out his book, Grinding It Out, and see the movie based on Ray’s journey starring Michael Keaton. He just kept at it and at it. And at it.

Look for other inspirational stories and find role models to keep you motivated and dedicated to your newfound path.

You are writing your story right now. Get to work and don’t stop. Obstacles are for learning. Go through them or around them or over them or under them. They will teach you what you need to do. The obstacle isn’t an impediment. It is the way forward.

The magic happens when we fully commit and begin. All kinds of forces arise to aid the journey that we could never have anticipated before starting. By having the right mindset, you will recognize these assists and opportunities and be able to seize upon them.

In all fairy tales and myths, helpers arise to assist the protagonist. These narratives are constructed that way because that is how life works. These stories are instructional.

Goethe said,

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”

Use this power to manage your money and create your financial freedom. Money can’t buy everything. The most important thing it can buy is your financial independence and freedom.

Use this focus and energy to scrutinize your money and redirect it to where you want it to go. Don’t let impulse buys or finance and subscription fees rob you of your future. Take massive action to pay out less and make more in the service of building wealth. Learn how to put that money to work to achieve escape velocity and financial freedom.

Plan the work and work the plan. You can’t fail.

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