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What causes people to take action – A fundamental analysis

Guest post by: John Bino

Article Overview: Imagine a 100-meter stretch of isolated road running through the Nevada desert. You and I are standing next to a car parked to the side. There are 2 traffic cones placed across the road with a distance of 3 meters between them. You have been given a challenge to drive the car between the cones without touching. Simple test, isn’t it? Let’s see what makes you do it.

What causes people to take action – A fundamental analysis

Imagine a 100-meter stretch of isolated road running through the Nevada desert. You and I are standing next to a car parked to the side. There are 2 traffic cones placed across the road with a distance of 3 meters between them. You have been given a challenge to drive the car between the cones without touching. Simple test, isn’t it? Let’s see what makes you do it.

Scenario#1: You are an expert driver.

Result: Of course, you drive the car between them easily

Scenario #2: You have never driven before.

Result: You will hesitate first. Maybe, you may try after all because there is nothing much to lose.

Scenario#3: You have never driven before. But this time, a greyhound happens to pass by and the passengers stop by to watch what happens. Now you have EYES on you, and you overhear them saying to each other – I don’t think he can do it – He is going to crash – He is a fool to even try, etc.

Result: You will, in all probability, not even try for the fear of feeling embarrassed and losing face

Scenario #4: Same as #3. But this time, I hold a gun to your head and threaten to shoot you if you don’t try.

Result: You will, in all probability, DO IT!

Scenario#5: Same as #3. But this time, there is no gun and the onlookers are egging you on. They are cheering you up, urging you on – Give it a shot, There is nothing to lose, Come on, etc.

Result: You will, in all probability, DO IT!

Scenario#6: Same as #3. You are being discouraged. However, I have placed a sack containing $1million CASH at the end of the stretch. It’s yours for the taking if you try.

Result: You will, in all probability, DO IT!

Now, I want you to focus on Scenario #1, #4, #5 and #6. In these 4 scenarios, you gave it a shot. Why do you think? The answer to this question is the answer to universal question of why people take action and some don’t -why few people start-off in any endeavor, or take up any challenge; whether it is sports, business, or life in general, and some don’t. There are 2 points to note here…

a) In #1, you took action because you were CERTAIN of the outcome. You did not have a doubt in your mind that you could fail. You had faith in yourself. The key point is ‘CERTAINTY of a desired outcome’. And how did you procure the feeling of certainty? Your knowledge of driving a car. Point to be noted: Knowledge leads to certainty

b) In #4, you took action despite that fact that you were NOT CERTAIN of the outcome. Why? Because your environment was that of encouragement. Your environment assisted you to grow taller, to increase strength, to try. Because your environment cared for your success.

Point to be noted: Environment dictates your actions.

c) In #5, you took action because of the fear of losing your life. To be precise, it was the fear of losing MORE than just losing FACE. You had more to lose if you did not try at all.

Point to be noted: Fear of losing something bigger than the paint of the challenge dictates your actions

d) In #6, you took action because the reward for taking action was enticing. Of course, if you did not need the money and are a hermit then you would not take action. But if you were a normal everyday kind of guy, you would find a million bucks enticing.

Point to be noted: Personal BENEFITS influences actions



To summarize, there are three things that causes people to take action at the fundamental level; A) Knowledge B) Fear of losing C) Desire for personal gain.

Which of the above you choose to inspire action in others depends on your character and philosophy of life. I choose ‘A’.

Take care and God bless.

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Article Tags: business mentor, business mentoring program, carbon copy pro, cashflow club, home business coaching, how to inspire action, john bino, mentorship, parentsincorporated, passive income opportunities, personal development, rich dad coaching, successful coaching



Related Forum Posts
Re: Quote of the Day - "If you hesitate, some bolder hand will s - [quote="MichelleJ":1cxjdf81]Definitely some planning and thought is important, the thing is to not get to the point where you suffer from analysis paralysis. MichelleJ[/quote:1cxjdf81] Exactly! There obviously needs to be a balance between planning and taking action.
Re: What can You Learn from a Jobless and Homeless Woman? - Positive thinking and a desire for success are fundamental qualities of an entrepreneur in my opinion.
Re: Best way to start a business? - It really just comes down to decision, action and persistence. You can spend a lifetime thinking about doing something, and researching it, to decide if it is the right action to take. Or you can make a decision about something you want to achieve, take action and be persistent. Make a plan of action, and adjust it as you learn more. An online business is something you should jump into straight away. The time it takes to start a new website is minutes, so there is not much of a barrier to entry for you to start a basic website and learn. Obviously if your idea was more specific like starting a review comparison site for laptops then your action would be trying out and comparing different review platforms, classifying laptops etc. But you would still take action and dive right in. If it was an offline business then it would likely mean even more preparation. Say you wanted to start a wine shop, which would eventually become a chain, you would start by taking action and learning as much about wine as possible, networking with people in the industry and generally working to become a win expert, and research locations for your first wine shop. In each situation you make a decision about what you want to do, act on that decision following a rough plan which you adjust along the way, and be persistent in working to achieve what you laid out in your original decision.
Re: Quote of the Day - "Don't sit down and wait for the opportun - Opportunity is definitely an action term. Even when we realize a great opportunity, nothing happens unless we take action.
Re: I failed woefully in 2011 - Yinka, My favorite advice for taking action comes from Tony Robbins: “A real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken a new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided… The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum. The most important rules that I ever adopted to help me in achieving my goals were those I learned from a very successful man who taught me to first write down the goal, and then to never leave the site of setting a goal without first taking some form of positive action toward its attainment.” If you've truly decided to make 2012 a successful year for you, don't wait until Sunday. Start today, even if it's a small step. Good luck!


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