Today I want to share with you something that I learned recently about taking massive action vs. taking passive action.
Lately I’ve been listening to a podcast called The Life Coach School with Brooke Castillo.
I discovered Brooke earlier this year on the Being Boss podcast.
I don’t know if they still do this, but at one point you could call in and share your “I am Being Boss” moment, and on my very first day of self employment I left a voicemail saying “I’m Shannon Mattern and I’m being boss” and that message was tacked on to the end of Brooke Castillo’s episode – which I’ll link up in the show notes.
So I subscribed to The Life Coach School podcast, like, 8 months ago, but I didn’t really listen to it… Like, in my mind it wasn’t going to help me make money or grow my business and if it’s not all about marketing and entrepreneurship, I don’t have time for that.
Well, that was my mindset for most of this first year, anyway… but now that I’ve come out of that cloud of fear and stress, I’m understanding how important it is to take time to take care of myself physically and get my mind right.
And then I hear Amy Porterfield, my mentor who doesn’t know she’s my mentor, mention Brooke as someone who helped her change her mindset about weight loss, and then I heard her on Amy’s podcast, and I start to think maybe… just maybe this is something I need to pay attention to.
Maybe this is a moment of synchronicity like I talk about in Episode 99… Like, my Being Boss moment was tacked on to Brooke’s episode not by coincidence, but to get me to pay attention.
So I start listening at the beginning – and I’m kinda blown away. Not like in a “I’ve had a huge epiphany” kind of way, but more like wow, I am actually at a point where I’m ready to receive this information and take action on it” kind of way.
Which brings me to what I want to share with you today – the difference between taking Massive Action and Passive Action, which Brooke describes in Episode 16 of her podcast, which you can check out at thelifecoachschool.com/16.
Brooke defines passive action as the act of consuming. Doing research. Making decisions. Pondering. And to that I would also add “Tinkering” which I’ll get to in a moment. All actions that take time and energy, but that all happen within you, and never move beyond YOU.
She defines massive action not as like, one big, bold action – like a big product launch or something – or not like a huge declaration – like “I’m going to lose 100lbs!” but as lots of little actions repeated and sustained over time that have massive results. But not just any kinds of actions – actions that create something. Actions that affect things outside of your own mind.
Take my decision to start a side hustle, for instance. I spent some time in passive action, researching and figuring out how to generate an income from an online business without having to work with clients one on one.
Then I spent some time building the 5 Day Website Challenge. And tinkering with it, designing and redesigning it, editing every UM, AH, and LIKE out of my videos and generally doing a whole bunch of stuff that really didn’t matter at the end of the day.
But then, I switched from passive action to massive action. Sharing the 5 Day Website Challenge in Facebook groups. Reaching out to interview people with audiences I could serve so I could get in front of their tribes. Pitching guest posting opportunities. Building relationships.
Like I say inside the 5 Day Website Challenge – take small consistent actions daily. Also known as massive action.
And I just continued with massive action in my business, and that’s why I was able to grow my side hustle to the point where I quit my day job.
On the other hand, I have places in my life where I’m still in passive action. When it comes to health and fitness, I’m consuming information. Listening to podcasts. Learning. Planning. Wishing. Justifying with every new thing I learn why the last thing I tried didn’t work. It SEEMS like I’m taking action on the problem.
But the reality is that I’ve never put massive, sustained action into it.
Brooke makes an analogy in her podcast episode about driving to the grocery store being a massive action, or a series of actions strung together that lead you to an actual result – and then she’s like “What do you do when you get stuck in traffic on your way to the grocery store? Do you just quit? Give up? Stop turn around and go home? But that’s what so many people do when they encounter a challenge or something unexpected.”
In some areas of my life, I’d never consider turning around when there’s an obstacle. But in others, I’m like, yep, I’m going home!
Sometimes I feel like I’m two different people you guys – but now I think I understand why.
Before starting this business, I’d never started one before and failed. And then started again and failed. And started and failed. And what I mean by failed is like, lost everything and been living on my mom’s couch.
But when it comes to weight loss, I’ve started and failed a thousand times. And by failed, I mean not losing any weight at all despite massive determination and a few short weeks of lifestyle changes.
It’s all in my perspective and my definition of failure. Because if I defined failure in my business differently – like, if I considered failure a course launch that didn’t go as planned, or an income goal not met, or making embarrassing mistakes – I’d think I was failing left and right! But I don’t even think of those things as failures, I’m just like, “Well, that didn’t work like I planned, what else can I try?”
So what if I can redefine failure in my journey to my normal weight? What if I can reframe all my past failures as attempts that I can learn from? What if I can retrain my brain around this topic and turn my passive action into massive action? What would be possible then?
I see people taking my 5 Day Website Challenge get trapped in passive action. Tinkering with their websites in a fruitless attempt for perfection. Writing and rewriting copy. Paralyzed in an ocean of overwhelm, afraid of making a wrong move.
I get it. Because taking massive action requires courage. The courage to fail, to look stupid, to be humiliated, or find out that what you thought you wanted doesn’t make you any happier.
But what if that’s the point?
So what about you? Where in your life do you easily take massive action? Where in your life are you stuck in passive action? I’d love to hear from you leave me a comment below! And go check out The Life Coach School podcast – it’s one I’ll be binging on for sure!
Resources:
Being Boss with Brooke Castillo
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