But Action Isn’t!

Would you be surprised if I told you that smoking cigarettes is bad for your health? Of course not; it is common knowledge. Even so, as recently as 2020, more than 30 million adults in the US smoked regularly. Here’s another example: Doctors know better than the average person that being overweight has significant negative impacts on a person’s health, yet over 40 percent of physicians in the US are overweight. Common sense is not enough. Knowledge is not enough. Knowledge without purposeful action is meaningless.

Self-Improvement. No one improves themselves by accident. Once we are done with our formal schooling and education, our own growth and development is completely our own responsibility. You are the only one who can work on you; nobody else is going to take care of changing your bad habits or granting you better habits. If you want your career, your business, or your life to improve, you have to improve yourself— and that takes action.

Comfort Zone. Once you become aware there is something you want to change about yourself, it creates a tension between where you are currently and where you want to be. You must be

By Mickie Quinn

willing to face that tension and work on yourself to stretch and grow to your full potential. Change is hard, but the process of stretching, learning and growing can help you take your current situation and improve it.

Taking Action. The key is to start small. If you try to make big, dramatic changes, you are much more likely to quit soon after you start. Start by identifying one action you can start, or stop, doing. Make it small and achievable. Once you have consistently made that new action part of your regular routine, identify one additional action to start or stop doing. Big results do not happen overnight. Big results are achieved by taking small steps, consistently, over time.

Get a Coach. Self-improvement is a journey that you must decide for yourself to take. But you don’t have to take the journey alone. If you want to improve your chances of success, consider hiring a coach. Having a coach dramatically improves the speed and consistency of the changes you are trying to achieve. There are many different types of coaches in our greater Sandpoint community: There are health and fitness coaches, nutrition coaches, business coaches, transformation coaches, financial coaches, and many more. Coaches have the tips, tools, resources and experience to help you on your journey to improve.

When you are ready to work on the greatest project you will ever work on, which is YOU, know that common sense may be common, but it is action that will get you to where you want to be.

By Jolena Overland