“As I grow older I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.” — Andrew Carnegie
Action is what makes learning and thinking possible. There are hundreds of potential obstacles that stand in our way. We cannot possibly know the solution to every obstacle in advance. What matters more is that we develop a mindset that primes us for action. We need to understand that with persistence, we can overcome every obstacle.
Action is a powerful way to learn faster and think better. Learning and thinking without doing is incomplete. Action is what holds learning and thinking together and moves everything forward. The things we learn and the ideas we have require action to manifest in the world.
Whatever obstacle we face, we need to understand that with a proper mindset, we can overcome any of them. Of course, that doesn’t mean that we should bang our head against the wall. Sometimes we need to stop what we are doing because we are not getting any results. Stubbornness can be an expensive vice. We need to learn when it is time to stop and try something else. Yet we should never be discouraged by temporary defeats.
Life exists in doing. It’s up to us to decide what we do with the time and energy that we’re given. The worst thing that we can do is give up on our dreams and aspirations. When times are tough, it is easy to talk yourself into letting everything go. If we haven’t yet achieved what we want to do, it is not because we can’t do it but because we haven’t learned yet how to overcome the obstacles that stand in our way. Instead of focusing our energy on doubting ourselves, we are better served spending it on finding ways to overcome our obstacles.
There are only so many types of obstacles that we could explore in this part. More generally, we need to learn how to attack any type of obstacle. When we learn never to give up and always keep going, we have a greater chance at unleashing our potential.