I have a confession to make.  Yesterday I had an idea to bring my wife flowers.  What a guy! But did I do it?  Brace yourselves, NO.  Therefore, the idea, although a noble one and one that would bring joy to my beautiful bride of almost 18 years, DIDN’T EVEN MATTER.  (As a matter of fact when she reads this, it might work against me). We have all been in situations when we wanted to implement a GREAT, sometimes world changing idea.  But if we don’t do it, the idea is worthless.  Our best intentions without ACTION equal frustration.

How do we become people that ACT and LIVE our best intentions?

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”  James 1:22

Initiating IS NOT easy.  We have many things to overcome in our lives: Fear, laziness, poor planning and doubt can keep us from starting something.  But we are to be people of ACTION!  If you fail to start, you have already failed.

5 Ways To Become A Person of Action

#1 Believe in Your Idea – Many of us second guess our ideas way too much.  Someone needs to feel and sense the outcome of your initiation.  Many of us have had a GOOD idea for way too long but we don’t believe in the idea because of perfectionism, some a lack of confidence and others just are insecure about what others will think.  NEVER LET FEAR OWN YOUR FUTURE!  I’d rather get it wrong then passively sit on the sidelines.

#2 Plan it Out – The best idea that doesn’t show up in your calendar probably won’t happen.  The reason the flowers didn’t make it to the table yesterday?  I had no plan to get them so it just didn’t happen.  The bigger the idea, the longer you need.  Write it down, plan it out, and stick to your guns/schedule and make it happen.

#3 See The Outcome – This is the fun part.  If your actions are motivated out of love, it will MOTIVATE you to get busy.  When I teach, I often visualize the way someone might feel when hearing the material, this encourages me to act in boldness and say what I need to say.  Imagine how people will feel and the value you will have added once the task is complete.

#4 Share Your Idea – Nothing is quite as powerful as someone encouraging you in your idea.  I spend a lot of time bouncing my ideas off my co-workers family and it actually lets me know if my idea is any good! In addition, they make my ideas better.  Once I tell someone I am going to do something, it helps me initiate.

#5 Get off The Couch – Okay, I know this is obvious, but the only way to do it is to, well, DO IT!  This means you have to do whatever it takes to start!  Eat a big breakfast, run a mile, go to sleep early.  In short, No one can make you do the idea, but you know it needs to happen!

Don’t beat yourself up, we have ALL talked too much about what we were GOING to do. Forgive yourself!

Alright, better get the flowers!  What do you KNOW you need to do?  COMMENT BELOW… I’m interested to know some things that we have all been procrastinating.

Josh is the lead pastor of 217church, a multi-site, contemporary church in Mercer County NJ.  217church is a family with small groups in New Jersey and Pennsylvania that meets Sundays in the Hamilton AMC24 Theater 9:30 & 11am and Grace Rogers School in East Windsor, NJ at 10:15.  Our new East Windsor Campus meets every Sunday.  If you are looking for a church in East Windsor NJ, Lawrenceville NJ, Ewing NJ, Robbinsville NJ, Hightstown NJ, Hamilton NJ, Mercer County, Middlesex County or Bucks County, PA, don’t miss our weekend services. Visit www.217church.com for more information.