Do It or Lose It

“If I talk about something I either talk about it or I DO it…the minute I talk about it it’s lost all its drive and all its fun.

                        —Carol Channing

How many times have we had great ideas, or at least things we think we’d like to do, thinking they might just work out to our advantage? Pretty often, if you’re like me. It could be anything from starting a charity to helping feed people, if that’s what really excites you, to deciding to learn Spanish, not because you need to, but because you think you would like to know another language. And as social beings, we’re often tempted to poll our friends to see what they think about it, and are often talked out of doing anything at all. Some will think it’s a good idea, and others will play Devil’s Advocate, and point out everything that could go wrong. And we do…nothing.

However, as a large athletic company urged us years ago: JUST DO IT! Whatever it is. However implausible your success. Whatever you need to learn to do it. Just. Do. It. The quote that began this is so accurate. Unfortunately accurate. Because our minds can create amazing things, things no one has done before. Or perhaps just different enough from something else that your personal version breaks new ground and its value is made manifest.

Anything you do, let it come from you, then it will be new…

                        —Stephen Sondheim

It has been said that there’s nothing new in the world, nothing we’ve not seen before, and all the ‘newness’ to something novel is just variations on a theme. Maybe. But maybe not. We are each unique individuals, each with a singular outlook on life and the world, and by bringing our own ‘take’ to something, we make it our own. Think of how many singers have sung Jerome Kern’s ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes’ and how each voice and interpretation brings something different to the song. There may be favorites we prefer, but each new version brings something unique and individual to the song itself, allowing us to hear it for the first time…again.

The creation of something is why we, as artists, athletes, scientists, healers, and so on, thrive; bringing our thoughts, experiences, and worldview to a project, a song, a dance, and we accomplish it by just doing it. The key word here is ‘DO.’ Taking action. Lighting a flame. Whatever the metaphor, taking action on something big, something that excites us, and drives us to do things we very much want to do is the human experience encapsulated. We are here to create a better world than we entered, and we can all do it, if we only take actions on those notions, do our absolute best, and put it out there in the world for others. 

The first step in this process is to write down the idea, so you don’t forget its specific parameters, and then begin a rough outline on the individual steps needed to make this happen. This step leads to refining it, pivoting to plan B if something fails, but to unswervingly keep going until it begins to take shape. At this point, our idea has become something unique to us, and as its parent, up to us to nurture it to fruition. The second step, and probably the most important, is to find a way to hold yourself accountable for taking action. For some, this means telling everyone you know what you are doing, so that every interaction with someone generally prompts the questions of how your project is going. Because none of us want to look like we’ve abandoned our own passions, we will tend to make time, and take a ‘no matter what’ stance in getting things done. Others are able to make a timeline and stick to it. Whatever method chosen, self-honesty is vital. You know when you are sliding, and just letting things go, and you know when you’ve put in the work, regardless of the results of a particular action, and how things are progressing. And there are roadblocks to everything, no matter what you have chosen to do. Writing a song or a story? There will be moments of ‘writers block’ that keep you from progressing very far that day. But these are balanced by those days when it all seems to flow and the song nearly writes itself.
Letting go of the fear of ‘failing’ is key. We all have a need for love and approval, and there’s nothing wrong with that. The criticism of what we have done can be hard sometimes, but it can also be encouraging, when we hear that what we have done is beginning to have an affect on others. This is when it sometimes seems that the Universe has come together and sent us help in the form of positive comments, suggestions, and it seems that we are being helped along by everyone and everything in our lives. What we have actually done, however, is act on our passions and put them out there for others to see, read, hear, and enjoy; we all react well to experiencing the joy of others in action.