A few weeks ago, I was a guest in a podcast where the host asked me something like, “what are the 3 most important principles an entrepreneur needs to know”, and I told him:
- Having a bias for action
- Getting things done
- Taking fast action
If I had to make a list of the most important traits any successful person needs to have, I’d put “takes fast action” in the top three. It is just that important.
I know, many people think they know what I’m saying, but they don’t understand what “fast action” actually means.
Let me give you an example.
A few days ago, a friend of mine told me the design of the blog didn’t look so good. She said it looks like something out of the 90s.
The same day, I asked a few other friends of mine in the design industry what they thought of the design. They said the same thing “functional, but old and not pretty”.
The very same day, I hired a designer to redo the design from scratch. And if you’re reading this, you’re already looking at the new and modern design.
I could have been lazy and spent 3 weeks just thinking about what to do, then maybe change a font or two, and then forgotten about it. But I didn’t. I got things moving and here we are.
Here’s another example.
Last year, in early March, my friend Atlas asked me if I knew any online courses where he could learn about Bitcoin.
I told him that I did not. We looked on the internet but we couldn’t find any.
I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be nice if a free, in-depth, and comprehensive course did exist that taught people everything about Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, NFTs, and all the buzzwords we keep hearing? A course that didn’t require you to be a developer and still teach you everything well?
I decided to create it myself.
The same week, here is what I did:
- Registered a great domain for the course (TeachYourselfCrypto.com)
- Found an expert to co-author the course with me (Sergio, founder of yourcodingteacher.com)
- Found a beta student, Ash – who took the course as we made it and provided us with “newbie-level feedback”
We started creating the course from early March, and on 31st March, 2021 – a mere 1 month after conception, we already had our first module ready.
At the time of writing, the first version of the full course is ready and live on TeachYourselfCrypto.com – it’s a fully free, in-depth course made for newbies and we’ve already had over 100,000 people on the course!
Last week, we released verified certificates and a private community, and we’re working to improve the teaching materials.
The point is – when my friend Atlas asked me if I knew a good crypto education course, I could have just said “no” and thought “it would be nice if there were” and then forgotten about it.
It would have been the natural thing to do – I wasn’t a developer. I knew nothing about crypto. I wasn’t a technical person.
I just thought if I made the course, not only will I learn everything about Bitcoin, Ethereum, and all the other interesting things I keep hearing about, but also that I would allow a lot of other people to learn about them too.
I opted to take fast action and create it. Currently, there is no resource on the internet that’s as good for learning about crypto.
I’m not trying to brag here. What I’m saying is – the only reason the best crypto course on the internet exists is because I took fast action. I didn’t just “have an idea” and then sit on my ass and hope for things to happen. I took action and made it happen.
Everybody has ideas. Every idiot has “ideas”. Ideas by themselves have zero value.
The value is in the execution.
Can you actually get things done?
A lot of people say “I want to start waking up earlier”.
All you have to do to start waking up earlier is to set an alarm for whatever time you want to wake up, and get up when the alarm rings.
A lot of people say “I want to start a website”.
All you have to do is get a domain, hosting, and start a website.
Most of these guys never actually do. They keep saying I want to – I want to – I want to. Year after year they say I want to.
I want to start an online business. I want to lose weight. I want to start a meditation habit.
They never start saying I do – I do – I do.
There will never be a “Perfect Time”
What is the difference between a guy who says I want to, and a guy who says I do?
The difference is fast action.
The difference is that the guy who does things makes a quick plan and starts executing it, and fixes things up as he goes along.
On the other hand, the guy who says “I want to” all the damn time is still waiting for the perfect day, the perfect opportunity, the perfect set of circumstances to start.
Look, if you don’t want to do something – just say you don’t want to do it. Why are you trying to fool yourself?
No one is “losing weight” for 5 years straight. If you truly wanted to lose weight, you’d have started yesterday and be down 1kg by next week.
You can lie to me, but you can’t lie to yourself. For that matter, you can’t even lie to me – I can see that you look the same every single time I meet you.
Do you really want to, or do you just wish it happened by magic? Because it sounds to me like a whole lot of you are hoping for some fairy to show up from the sky, wave a wand, and give you what you want.
You’re not wanting, you’re wishing. What you need to start is doing.
Unless you actually start doing, good luck getting that fairy from the sky.
Fortune favors the bold doers, not the whiny wishers.
There will never be a perfect time. The stars will never line up. No fairy is coming to save you.
If you actually want to, the perfect time is today. Because that promised someday isn’t coming.
P.S. If your issue is discipline, take the Live Intentionally: 90 Day Self-Improvement Program. Over 8,000 people have used Live Intentionally to cure their no-action-itis.
But Harsh, what if I make a mistake?
Ah, the dreaded “mistake”.
What if you move fast and make a mistake?
So what? Fix them.
Most decisions in life and business are reversible.
Business decisions are typically not like a marriage or a surgery.
If you make a mistake, it will not cost you years of unhappiness or a dead patient.
Most business decisions are a lot like driving in a new town. You can go left or right, and if you go the wrong way, you can turn around and go the right way again.
Sure you lose some time and petrol, but you’ll go farther if you’re willing to make some wrong turns than you will if you’re just sitting in your car hoping for the perfect route to appear from the sky.
I mean, let’s say you’re selling high end skin creams. And you have the bright idea to also sell herbal shampoo as an upsell.
You don’t need to overthink that. Get some inventory, put the item on the Shopify store, and test if people want it.
If they buy it, good – you have a winning product. Worst-case scenario – you sell 0 units (which anyone in e-com will tell you is unlikely) – you lose the money you spent in inventory, and that’s all.
It’s not a big deal. Most business decisions are reversible and all you risk is some capital.
You need to take calculated risks and you need to move fast.
Take fast action. Go from I want to to I do quick, and see the results.
If it works, make it better.
Once your idea is validated, then you can improve and perfect it.
Let’s say the idea of up-selling herbal shampoos really worked well. You made some sales, and people seem to like it.
Now you can actually invest more thought into it and make the shampoos better, find the perfect copywriting to sell it, get different flavors, etc. and maybe even start a line of soaps.
Take the first step fast. If it doesn’t work, backpedal. If it works, well – move forward and do it well.
In the world of business, timidity and too much hesitation do not pay.
What does pay is being bold. Lady Fortuna loves the bold.
– Harsh
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