My heart fell flat when I realized I had missed out on the greatest opportunity of my life (at that point in my life). I had been given the opportunity to attend a training at the home of Tony Robbins and his wife in the Castle overlooking the ocean in Del Mar. I knew it was a great privilege and opportunity, but I was worried about being able to afford the flight to California, and pay my bills if I missed a few days of work. To be honest, I was worried about what my colleagues would think, because he was known as the giant with big teeth on infomercials at the time.
I missed out! I paid a huge price for that. The price? My journey to extraordinary became longer. I had raised my head up out of the dark hole of debilitating depression, and when I realized I had missed the opportunity, I slid back down the slippery slope, back into the black hole, for a number of years.
I am sure you have read the parable about the three guys who were given bags of money. One guy was given five bags, one guy was given two bags, and one guy was given one bag.
After the giver of the bags returned, the one who was given five had 10. The one who was given two had four. They both doubled. But the man who had one hid his. Because he was afraid.
The first time I heard the parable, the guy with one bag (who ended up with NOTHING) was the one I most related to. He became afraid and buried his bag. Just like I became afraid of the one opportunity to go to the groundbreaking, amazing training. And ended up with NOTHING!
But the second time I heard it, I related to the guy who ended up with 10 bags. There was something about his story that was not present in the account of the other two.
In the parable, the man with five bags went “at once” and began investing in trading with the contents of his bag. Those words… “At once“… Burned me inside like a torch. I could physically feel a visceral response. If I had only acted “at once“ when I had that opportunity that felt so right to me. Instead of allowing my fears to bury the opportunity…
Because of that parable, I began coaching my clients, and training my Life Coaches, to never delay action when you know things are right. I knew it. I knew it. I KNEW it! But I talked myself out of it.
At that period of time, there was a great song that had a grooving beat to it in the Christian music arena. I loved the song, and loved dancing around to it. But it also drove this point home to me. The key lyrics of the song said,
“Well there’s a difference you know
‘Tween having faith and playing make believe
One will make you grow,
The other one just make you sleep.
Talk about it …
But I really think you oughtta take a leap off of the ship
Before you claim to walk on water
Faith without works is like a song you can’t sing
It’s about as useless as a screen door on a submarine …”
Unless we take action on things we believe in or know to be right for us, our belief is about as “useless as a screen door on a submarine!“
I know you can relate at some level to what I’m sharing here. How many times have you missed out on great things because you hid things away in fear? How many times have you “anal“ized things so long that you missed the opportunity? How many times have you left a great seminar and said I’m going to put everything I just learned into practice tomorrow? Then put the workbook away only to be reminded of it a year later when you ran into someone who attended the same seminar?
We’ve all done it! But there is something better. There is a better way! What is it? Acting “at once!“
I teach clients and Coaches the MIA concept. Massive Immediate Action or Missing In Analyzing. The choice is yours.
For the past six weeks, I have been training an amazing group of Master Life Coaches. A stellar group of students came together, studied hard, played full out, engaged totally, and graduated last night. I’ve never been more proud of a graduating class!
In my closing words to them before their graduation celebration dinner, I told them that there is one thing that makes the difference between those that become Master Life Coaches who make a difference, and those who are Master Life Coaching only because of a certificate they hang on their wall. The difference is those who take Massive Immediate Action. I encouraged them to take some major steps before they went to bed after graduation night. Maybe that was making a three step plan before they went to bed that night. Or maybe it was beginning to do one of their final exercises… Which was to write a proclamation that they believed would propel them forward into their purpose, and read it out loud every morning and every evening.
I feel confident there in this group … most, if not 100% of them, read their proclamation out loud with intensity, determination, and belief this morning. I told them that Massive Immediate Action on all they had learned placed them on the Road Less Traveled.
What about you? What opportunities are before you? And what Massive Immediate Action can you take this very day to make sure you don’t become Missing In Analizing?
When I teach my lifestyle program called “What’s A Nice Person Like Me Doing in a Body Like This?“… I encourage people to take Massive Immediate Action by going home, and emptying their pantry, frig and freezer of all the things that are contrary to their commitment to themselves and their health. And are energy drainers. I tell them to do one of three things:
- Eat it all
- Donate it
- Throw it away
I have so many hilarious testimonials about what people did that night, and how it has kept them on the journey. Many people go home and eat as much of it as they possibly can before activating one of the other two options. Testimonies about how sick it made them, and how that every time they’re tempted to fall off the wagon, all they have to do is remember that binge night! LOL! Others reported that they were afraid they would wake up and retrieve it from the trash, so they flushed it. One had to call a plumber to unstop their toilet. But they TOOK ACTION! Massive Immediate Action.
You have opportunities before you. I know you do. You have gifts inside of you! Don’t miss out! Don’t hide them because you are afraid. Don’t over analyze! Don’t end up being the person with nothing at all, like I did.
I practice Massive Immediate Action often and consistently!
Last fall, I received an email from Michael Hyatt (who I follow because I so appreciate his values and how he develops leadership in the field of business). The email was about a program that would help you expand your message, and spread it further. The tagline of the program was “your message matters.“
The message inside of me that I deliver and install in Life Coaches is my passion. Almost every blog that I write and every broadcast I do on Tuesday nights through Facebook Live have to do with pieces of that passion.
This program that was designed to help expand the opportunity of sharing a message came to me through an email from Michael Hyatt. I had been out of town working on a project, so by the time I read the email, the deadline for enrolling was in a matter of hours. My first thought was: “maybe another time”. All of a sudden that torch burning I had in my gut when I had missed out on the opportunity years ago re-ignited inside me, burning me deeply.
I was exhausted and it was late.
But I knew that Massive Immediate Action was necessary. The one bag person inside of me was saying, “You can’t afford this. It’s not a good time. You don’t know everything you should know about this”. But the five bag person inside of me was saying, “Do something ‘at once’.” So … I got on their website, I called their customer service, and they sent me a video to watch. I watched it and was totally enthralled.
The one bag side of me was saying: “You’re too tired to make this decision”. The five bag side of me said, “I will not let this happen again”. Everything about it felt exactly the same as a situation years before where I had missed a groundbreaking event at the home of Tony Robbins and his wife at the Castle in Del Mar.
The one bag person and the five bag person inside of me were at war. I decided that I was a five bag person and that I would respond “at once!”
I submitted my registration three minutes before the doors closed. It has turned out to be one of the greatest business opportunities in my entire career.
What about you? What will you do with opportunities before you? Whether it’s the opportunity to lose 10 pounds, the opportunity to go to a networking group, or the opportunity to share your gifts? I know it’s hard sometimes to take Massive Immediate Action. I don’t want to make that same mistake ever again. And I don’t want you to do it either.
Here are the steps that I have learned to help me be consistent in taking Massive Immediate Action:
- Be grateful for the opportunity, for the open door!
- Pause and consider how the opportunity feels deep inside you. Some people only look for a deep peace. Having a deep peace is certainly a good sign, but an opportunity that challenges you may not produce a deep peace. Yet it may be something that is critical for you. If you feel at peace you may have your decision made. But if you don’t peace, don’t dismiss it. Ask yourself these questions: How would this benefit me? How would it challenge me to grow? And what difference would that make?
- Trust that if it’s right for you, there is no reason to wait one more second. Actually stand up and do something physical. Many times, I will find a line across my wood floor or a grout line in the tile in my bathroom. I will determine that line is significant of what I’m deciding about, and when I step across it, I will not turn back. You probably know me well enough to know that I don’t saunter across the line I’ll take a huge leap across the line.
- Set up accountability. When I signed up for this course, I knew that it would require a lot of reading, a lot of practicing, and a lot of prep time. They were hours and hours of videos, zoom conference to attend, and deadlines to meet. I called one of the cheerleaders of my life and explained the program. I asked them to hold me accountable by checking in with me every 5 to 7 days and asking me if I was on course. If I had met my deadlines, if I needed any help or encouragement. My accountability partner has been absolutely faithful and fabulous, and I know that call is coming so I work diligently to stay on track.
- Celebrate. I still have much to do in my program, but I celebrate every little success. If we learn to celebrate along the way, we are more likely to take Massive Immediate Action again.
Do you have gifts, you have talents. You have opportunities. Don’t miss them. Take Massive Immediate Action. Join my graduating class on the Road Less Traveled. It is such a rewarding way to live, and you deserve the richness of life available to you.
