Less Talk More Action

Years ago, I stumbled into a grimy boxing gym in the “bad” part of town and began to fight against the noise in my head. I trained every day after work. I’d run miles through neighborhoods that warned me not to come back. I learned phrases like “the block is hot” and was nearly knocked out more times than I can count. Still, day after day I returned. I was determined to better myself and learn how to throw a proper punch.

At the time, I was reeling from a recent breakup and complete loss of identity after returning from war. With each jab to the heavy bag, I found more and more of myself. I did the work and made that discipline my lifestyle. Slowly I became part of the fabric of that gym. I made friends with the “real” boxers who took me under their wings and showed me the literal ropes. As a naturally bigger guy, I was constantly tested. I learned to box by fighting for my life sometimes—at least that’s how it felt. I’m an amateur boxer at best, but I learned valuable skills during that time in my life. I gained confidence and saw the fruit of my labor over time.

The same can be said for any venture. If you’re disciplined, and put your mind to it, anything is possible. I firmly believe that. The opposite is also true. How many of us know someone who talks a big game, lays out their plans, and never takes the first step? My inbox is full of wannabe photographers, writers, videographers, etc. They constantly tell me what they’re going to do, but they never leave the starting line. According to their plans, they intend to be middle-aged social media influencers with zero tangible value to add to the marketplace of ideas. Mike Tyson famously said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth," life often hits harder than Iron Mike.

Plans are great, don’t get me wrong, but if all you ever do is plan, you’re just making noise. You have to have the discipline to put action to your words, even when life wants to sucker punch you or when you have no idea what you’re doing. We all have excuses as to why we don’t do x or y but the discipline to do the damn thing even when you don’t “feel” like it. That is what separates dreamers from doers. Life is never going to be perfect. Most books don’t get written in cabins surrounded by solitude. They’re written by frazzled writers juggling their “real” lives and still carving out time to do the lonely unsexy work.

You can’t get good at boxing if you never do the mundane things like bag work, slip drills, and footwork exercises. At the moment, they don’t feel necessary, and you want to jump straight into the ring and spar because that’s the glamorous thing. But once you get punched, you immediately realize that mastering the small things is what leads to mastery in all things. The same can be said for any venture in our lives. If you’re not willing to put in the actual work to make it happen and only exist to cast vision and excuses, you might as well quit while you’re ahead.

Our culture expects instant success with little to no work. It’s easy to look at viral sensations as a model for personal achievement because social media makes everything look easy. On the one hand, it is easy. Do the work, day after day over and over for years, and maybe one day you’ll be an “overnight success.” The sad reality is that you can do the work for years and never see an inkling of notoriety or a dime of income. Those stories don’t go viral but they’re more the norm. The surefire way to never see success is to make excuses about why you haven’t started yet. There is never going to be a perfect moment to begin something new. Now is as good a time as any, build from here—or shut up about it.

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If you want a twofer this week, check out my article that was published by Havok Journal earlier this week. Click below:

The Duality by Stan Lake

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