Have you ever been annoyed by a successful person, because you thought you were more intelligent than them? Maybe it was a boss. Maybe it was a political figure or a leader.

It’s especially maddening when this person is creating rules that dictate your life. I can definitely relate. I’ve had my share of bosses that I thought were less than brilliant.

So what is it that makes them successful? That’s what I’ve always wondered and what has always bugged me. I mean, shouldn’t intelligence be a prerequisite to leadership? The answer… not really.

It turns out the biggest reason people are successful is: consistent action, not intelligence.

Then the question is, are these three words ruining your life…?

The unmagical words

Those words are: I don’t know.

It’s not drive, it’s not motivation, it’s not lack of passion that keeps people from doing what they want. It’s not knowing where to start, or how to get from A to B. That’s the single biggest reason people don’t take action to make their dreams a reality.

So how can we overcome this? How can we stop letting obscurity keep us from becoming successful? The answer is pretty simple: You have to develop the ability to stop caring about not knowing. (I’ve written about this before, where I call it “putting yourself on auto-response.”)

You have to cultivate the habit of doing before knowing. This seems like a daunting thing to do, but it’s really actually a very easy habit to create. And there are a multitude of possibilities that exist right now that you can practice it.

Easiest thing in the world

For example, how many time does your spouse or partner ask you “What do you want to have for dinner?” and you respond, “I don’t know.” (This happens to me all the time, and it’s maddening.) Next time, instead of using those three dirty words, just ask yourself, “What’s something I’d like to have for dinner?” and then respond.

Now do this when someone asks where you’d like to hang out, or what you’d like to spend the evening doing. Instead of re-actively saying “I don’t know,” take the time to come up with a response. Even if you’re not 100% completely stoked about the idea, just come up with something you’d be satisfied with doing. Anything other than I don’t know is an improvement.

Next, try asking yourself “How could I best use my time, right now?” or “What is the highest leverage use of my time, right now?” Take a minute to brainstorm and mentally prioritize. If you’re having trouble coming up with an answer, just pick whatever you think would be the most productive use of your time. Remember, anything is better than the three words we shall not speak of.

Just imagine all of the possibilities for you to practice actively making decisions based on your desires, rather than re-actively defaulting to unconsciousness. There are so many little ways you can practice this skill. I think you’ll be surprised at how often you’re able to rehearse it.

The difference between living and existing

Okay, so you’ve mastered it with the little stuff. Now it’s time to use it on the things that really matter. Stuff like your passions and career.

If you’re not doing something you love or at least like for a living, you’re selling yourself short. And I bet the reason why you’re not pursuing something better is because you don’t know what you’d rather do. Instead of allowing that not knowing to dwell in your psychic space, cast it out. Don’t tolerate it anymore. If you don’t know what you’re passionate about, move from not knowing to seeking a path that will allow you to explore what you might love to do. This might mean reading a book on different career pursuits. It might mean googling your hobbies for possible career intersections. Whatever it is, practice that until you move into a state of knowing.

The reason I’m so passionate about this is because I’ve seen so many lives unfulfilled because of not knowing. It saddens me to think that such a simple phrase can have such a devastating impact.

I urge you to practice moving in the direction of knowing, when you feel stuck in a state of indecision. All it takes is one little shift.

It could mean the difference between making a dying and making a living.

有沒有對某些成功人士心存不屑,因?yàn)橛X的自己遠(yuǎn)比他們聰明的多？也許這個人是你老板�；蛘呤悄硞�政要首腦。而讓人更討厭的是有些時候這些人的決策往往又 將影響你的生活。幾乎可以肯定. 我以前的某些老板就不是很聰明。但到底是什么讓他們成為成功人士？我一直想知道答案也一直被這些問題所困擾。 我的意思是，難道才智不是成為領(lǐng)袖的首要條件么？但答案…還真的不是。

結(jié)果我發(fā)現(xiàn)成功與否的最大關(guān)鍵是：持之以恒的行動，不是才智。

所以問題是，這三個字有沒有也影響到你的生活？

令人討厭的字眼

這三個字是：“不知道”。

人們不是因?yàn)槿狈�動力，也不是因�(yàn)槿狈�動機(jī),更不是因?yàn)闆]有激情去實(shí)現(xiàn)他們的目標(biāo)。而是不知道從哪里開始，不知道怎樣從起點(diǎn)到達(dá)目標(biāo)。這就是為什么我們無法為實(shí)現(xiàn)夢想而行動的最大原因。

所以我們怎樣克服這個問題？我們怎樣停止迷茫達(dá)到成功？ 答案其實(shí)很簡單：你需要有能力不在擔(dān)心對事情的迷茫。

你需要培養(yǎng)在瞻前顧后之前開始行動的習(xí)慣？ 這看起來有點(diǎn)嚇人,但確是個很容易培養(yǎng)的習(xí)慣. 現(xiàn)在有很多辦法可以讓你去實(shí)踐.

世界上最簡單的事

舉個例子，有多少次你的愛人或者同伴問起“今天的晚餐你想吃些什么？”而你卻回答“不知道”或者“無所謂”。 （難以置信的是，我就經(jīng)常這樣說。） 下一次如果在有人問起，嘗試不要說這三個字，而是在心里問問自己，“晚餐我真的想吃什么？”再做回答。

從現(xiàn)在開始當(dāng)別人問起去哪兒消遣或者晚上要做什么的時候都先想一下.。不要直接脫口而出“我不知道”， 真正花點(diǎn)時間思考一下。就算你想的事情不是完全那么激動人心，最起碼拿出一件你真心想做的事情作為答案。 不在用“我不知道”作為應(yīng)付已經(jīng)是個進(jìn)步了。

下一步，試著問自己“我能怎樣利用現(xiàn)在的這段時間？”或者“現(xiàn)在這段時間用來做什么最好？” 花點(diǎn)時間想想或者給事情排一下序。如果你實(shí)在不能想出什么好點(diǎn)子，最起碼選擇一件能充分利發(fā)揮這段時間的效能的事情。記住，任何具體的事情都好過“不知道”這三個字。

試想一下以自己的愿望作為決定的基礎(chǔ)，而不是處于機(jī)械的無意識狀態(tài)的可能性。有很多辦法可以練習(xí)這種能力。你肯定想不到這樣能有多容易。

生活與生存的區(qū)別

好的,現(xiàn)在你已經(jīng)能控制小事上的反應(yīng)了. 現(xiàn)在將他們用在更有意義的事情上. 比如你的事業(yè)或者熱情所在.

如果你不是以你所愛或者最起碼以你所喜歡的事業(yè)謀生，你的生活就是在投機(jī)。 而且我認(rèn)為你不去追求更高目標(biāo)的原因是因?yàn)槟悴恢�道什么是更�?yīng)該做的。不要繼續(xù)任由自己處于茫然，你應(yīng)該將這種思維趕走.。不要允許自己有這樣的想法。如果你不知道自己對什么事有激情的話，起碼從這種茫然中走出來，找一份你可以探索的職業(yè)，或許你就會找到激情。也許這就代表現(xiàn)在拿起一本其他行業(yè)的書籍。 也許代表在Googles上搜索一下自己的興趣范圍里有什么樣的職業(yè)。 無論怎樣, 一直保持練習(xí)，直到你能習(xí)慣性的做出符合自己意愿的決策。

我對這件充滿熱情的原因就是因?yàn)槲铱吹教�多人因�(yàn)槊Ｈ欢鵁o法實(shí)現(xiàn)對生活的愿景。這種令人沮喪的結(jié)果迫使我思考原來這樣簡單的三個字可以帶來這樣大的消極影響。

我期望當(dāng)你躊躇不決的時候可以使用這種按照自己意志來決策的辦法。所需要的只是一點(diǎn)小小的改變。

也許這就代表生活和生存的區(qū)別。