“It is easier to act your way into a feeling than to feel your way into action.” Ed Agresta
“Well done is better than well said.” Benjamin Franklin
“Ace” = Action cures everything.
We’ve all been there. We’ve felt stuck, in a rut, not sure which way to go or what to do and so we end up doing nothing, which only makes us feel worse. There’s a simple antidote for this common creative malady. It’s captured in three words: Action cures everything.
Wherever we are and whatever the job at hand, there’s always an action we can take – and the simple act of taking action can pry things loose. When we act, we exert power, we influence situations, we make things happen — exactly what we may be struggling to do.
Ace – action cures everything. Let’s look at what this can mean to us as writers:
Taking action gives us forward motion which can quickly turn to momentum. When we move forward instead of looking back or staying stymied, we pry things loose. We shake things up and signal to the universe that we are focusing on progress, not the past.
Taking action helps us deal with our doubts and fears, which make “traitors of us all,” as Shakespeare says so well. They can hold us back and make us feel that we don’t have what it takes to succeed. When we act in site of our doubts about our ability or our fears that our work isn’t good enough, we move into the land of possibilities — an empowering place to be.
Taking action frees us to learn and be curious. “The work itself will teach you” – I love this old Estonian proverb! When we take action, we brush away the cobwebs from our minds – and make space for new ideas and approaches to take center stage.
Taking action creates energy — and energy unleashes creativity. When we’re feelig sluggish and immobilized, just taking one step and then another, one simple action after another, can give us the mental and emotional fuel we need to keep going and growing.
As motivational speaker Ed Agresta says so well, “It’s easier to act your way into a feeling, than to feel your way into an action.” Don’t focus on your feelings. Act your way into feeling whatever you want to feel: energized, curious, creative, capable.
“Ace” it – action cures everything. Three powerful words to remember as we all write on!
