What is it that separates those who take action from those who do not?
Confidence perhaps. Though I’ve met many people who are both talented and skilled but don’t believe they are talented and skilled enough. And confidence is usually built from the repetition of taking action, achieving or failing a goal, learning from the trial and trying again.
Maybe it’s intelligence. But take one look at any level of government and you will find people who you probably don’t think are as smart as you are, and yet they’re taking actions.
Connections. Surely someone who is taking action must first have had the necessary connections in their family or circle of friends to be able to take those actions. There’s no doubt that connections help. There’s also no doubt that in the 21st Century’s interconnected society, connections can be made more easily than ever before.
Drive. I’m putting my money on drive. Confidence, intelligence and connections can be gotten. But without drive, you have no reason to take action. A reason. There always has to be a reason to take action. That’s all you need. One reason.
Case in point: Jorge Ernesto Odón.
Odón was a car mechanic in Argentina 8 years ago. His five children had all been delivered by C-section. After watching a YouTube video demonstrating how to get a cork out of a wine bottle, he had an epiphany – could a similar method be applied to ease childbirth?
He did not have the confidence, intelligence or connections to take action – he wasn’t a doctor or inventor. But the experience of having 5 children by C-section gave him a point of view. That point of view gave him a reason to explore the idea. It gave him his drive.
Compelled by that drive, he developed the connections, accrued the intelligence and generated the confidence needed to see his project through to completion. Five years later, his team began test trials, all of which were successful, and now he works full-time to bring the Odón Device to countries that lack the proper tools needed for difficult births.
What in your life do you give the greatest value to (whether negative or positive)? What’s the biggest challenge you’ve ever personally faced? That’s the thing that is going to give you drive. That’s the thing that will compel you to take action. Confidence, intelligence and connections are an afterthought.
What drives you? Answer here.
photo: Mai10 Blog
