Knowledge is not power, action is power. You can read and study all you want but if you don’t actually do anything with what you know you are nothing but a spectator. Take your health, for example. There is no shortage of books and programs and step by step methods that will tell you how to be fit and lean, but sitting on the couch eating Chips Ahoy while reading them will never get you the result you are seeking. It may be knowledge that sparks the understanding that something needs to change, but action is the only thing that will actually change lives. We have an overwhelming amount of information being broadcasted into us during our day. Our instant access to what is going on anywhere in the world has brought us near awareness and knowledge overload. If we actually took everything in and felt it, we would curl into a ball and not want to leave the safety of our beds, so we filter.
Entrepreneur and speaker Jim Rohn said, “One of the best places to start to turn your life around is by doing whatever appears on your mental, ‘I should’ list.” It takes practice to begin to actually hear those subtle messages from our higher self that are working to get through the noise in our heads. I am not talking about the regret and self bashing “I should have done that differently”, but instead the “I should stop and talk to the guy asking for change”, or “I should call my friend and see how she’s doing”. Any should message that is telling you to help someone else. There is a tremendous power in taking action on your shoulds. It turns you from being a passive bystander into an active participant, an active author, of life. It means stepping up, just a bit, and taking responsibility for your world.
The good news is that it doesn’t take a lot. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing like rebuilding a school for the storm ravaged areas in Puerto Rico, or hosting a family displaced by the fires in your home. It can be small, like asking someone how their day is, and actually taking the time to care. The secret is that when you begin, you can’t go back. The rewards of helping others are immense and reflect back to us by making us…Feel Good. Taking action not only helps someone else, but it helps you. It helps you realize what you value, it helps you learn to listen to your internal guidance system, it helps you feel a purpose, it helps you grow. You can’t turn a butterfly back into a caterpillar, and when you intentionally work to help others, you begin the journey to learning to fly.