A Better Life Is 80% Action, 20% Smart Thinking

Learn to become a doer who can think clearly

What you do changes the trajectory of your life — not what you think.
Don’t get me wrong; smart thinking influences our actions more than we think. But to make real change that gets you close to what you want, you have to take become a doer.
Aristotle was right, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
The only way to close the gap between where you are now and what you want for your future self is by taking the right action consistently.

Choosing to take action is a choice that comes with responsibility, sacrifice and a lot of grit. Nobody can practically push to do anything more than yourself.

Instead of convincing yourself that you can’t do something, say yes to the right opportunities, habits, routines and behaviours that guarantee real progress or a much better life.

Yes to create more. Yes to exercising more. Yes to reading better books. Yes to lifelong learning. Yes to embracing your best self every day.

The most successful people are doers. They learn and take action at the same time. Warren Buffetts reads a lot. But he also invests a lot of money.

He balances both action and thinking. He has developed habits, rituals, and routines to grow his business and personal wealth.

He applies what he learns — even when it’s uncomfortable.
Successful doers are open to learning from their actions. They learn better from experience and don’t hesitate to change their minds when they find better evidence or knowledge.

Beware of the knowledge trap
“Passive learning is not a form of practice because although you gain new knowledge, you are not discovering how to apply that knowledge. Active practice, meanwhile, is one of the greatest forms of learning because the mistakes you make while practicing reveal important insights.” — James Clear

You can read 200 books a year and think about all the good knowledge you’ve accumulated in just a single year, but if you don’t find time to practice, you won’t change your life.

Always remember: Success is 80% action, 20% knowledge.

Put your knowledge to work. Learn from the experience and repeat what works. That’s how you gather wins.
Most people gro
w too slowly because their rate of gathering experience is too low. If you are trying to improve your writing, write every day.

If you are trying to improve your health, finance, relationship, intellectual growth, career or skills, double down on the 20% actions that deliver the most results.

Consistent action improves your game of life.
You don’t win the infinite game of life by sitting on the fence or thinking about what can go right. You succeed through experience, learning from every action and improving your behaviours every day.
There are no shortcuts to progress. You can never beat the experience or action process. But you can overcome the obstacles and keep moving.

Action begets results. Results beget even better action. Rinse, repeat, and you have a snowball momentum. You’ll become unstoppable if you keep measuring and doing more of what works.

By all means, think.
But however you think, don’t forget to move. Run, walk or crawl. Whatever you do, remember to move in the direction of your future self.
Active practice creates real and practical skills for life.

In his book, The Practicing Mind, Thomas Sterner said: “Everything in life worth achieving requires practice. In fact, life itself is nothing more than one long practice session, an endless effort of refining our motions. When the proper mechanics of practice are understood, the task of learning something new becomes a stress-free experience of joy and calmness, a process which settles all areas in your life and promotes proper perspective on all of life’s difficulties.”

Learning to take action is life-changing. Learning to think better changes your approach to life. The test of practical intelligence is the ability to think and take action at the same time.
Learn to find joy in the process of “achieving” instead of just thinking better. It’s incredibly fulfilling to know that you are doing something for your future self, no matter how slow you move.

To change your life, spend 80% of your time doing the actual work. The results you expect can only happen if you permit yourself to execute.
Today, right now, begin the physical practice of creating real change.
Become a doer who thinks.


By Thomas Oppong
​Photo credit: Pexels

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