You know those days when you are crazy busy but you don’t seem to accomplish anything? When you’ve been rushed off your feet, running here and there, and nothing productive has been achieved? Or how about those awful days when everything you seem to do feels like really hard work and things keep getting in your way?
Today I’m talking about taking action versus taking inspired action. It’s all about how to get things done like an action romance hero (or heroine. I’m going to use hero to mean both because it’s shorter.)
Intention
A good action romance hero and heroine takes action aligned with their main intention or driving need. Maybe they need to rescue the child, beat the bad guy or storm the castle, whatever it is, everything they do is done with that goal in mind.
If you are taking action without thought or for no particular reason, you’re spinning your wheels. At the end of the day, you’ll feel like you’ve achieved nothing.
For any of the writers out there, if you spend your writing time doing “research” on the internet or commenting on Facebook instead of getting the words down, then your action doesn’t match your intention to finish that next book.
Trust your instincts
Sometimes we just put so much effort in or try so hard to reach our goals that we’re working against ourselves. Trusting your instincts or going with the flow is also important. Take the time to listen to those little hunches or flashes of inspiration. They can really help get you on the right path to taking inspired action.
If you force your actions, you’ll often end up feeling tired and worn out. It feels like work and you won’t enjoy the process.
We’ve all seen the action hero who’s trying to win the day the way he thinks he should and finds he achieves nothing. He hits roadblock after roadblock. Once he lets go, trusts his instincts and does things his way, he starts to see success (I’m having visions of Luke Skywalker in the swamp on Dagobah learning to be a Jedi).
How do you know when it’s inspired action?
When you feel excited and energized by what you’re doing, you’re taking inspired action. Time flies by and you achieve things with little effort. You’re enjoying the process.
That’s not to say that there won’t be hard work involved or that sometimes even inspired action doesn’t leave you tired. And yes, there will still be obstacles along the way to challenge you. But with each inspired action you’ll be getting closer to where you want to go, just like our intrepid action hero storming the bad guy’s castle.
The last three stories in my WindKeepers Series will be coming in the not so distant future. It’s about four brothers (sexy, Italian brothers) who each control one of the cardinal winds. Each one is fighting their instincts and spinning their wheels in their battle against the bad guys…until they each meet a woman who teaches them to let go and try some inspired action.
What inspired action are you going to take today? Me, I’m off to finish edits to the next book in The Phoenix Adventures.
Image by Celestine Chua