Whenever you take action to go after a goal, you’re going to run into obstacles. How you handle those obstacles determines whether you’ll consistently attain your goals or not.
Simple, right?
Well, obstacles come in different forms, and sometimes they can be sneaky. For example, two common obstacles I see may seem completely harmless. Others will support your caving to them. These obstacles sound reasonable, even wise.
“Let me think about it. I’ll just wait and see.”
I’m sure you’ve had this experience: You’re all fired up and taking action. Then you run into something unexpected or disappointing. You see the next step you could take, and you feel hesitant. “Hmmm. Maybe I’ll just wait and see.”
The teachings of Huna (the ancient art and science of healing and spiritual development of the Hawaiian Islands that I practice and teach) say that we all have four “bodies”: a spiritual body, mental body, emotional body, and physical body. For true health, all bodies must be healthy. And when we want to take effective action, all bodies must also be aligned.
The problem with “Let me think about it” and “Wait and see” is that it messes up the energy flow between these bodies. When you’re going after a goal, you start by becoming filled with the energy of inspiration about your goal (which is in the spiritual body). Then you create energy in your mental body by planning out your action steps. While you’re planning your action steps, you’re feeling the energy of excitement and anticipation in your emotional body. All of that energy hovers right at the point of the physical body, which is where the action takes place.
Action is defined as doing something in the physical realm to release the energy you’ve built up in all the other bodies. So, if you begin to put one foot forward, then say, “Ooops! Wait. Let me think about it,” the energy doesn’t just sit there hovering.
Imagine holding one foot out of an airplane door about to do a parachute jump. If you hesitate at that point with your foot hanging out of the plane and say, “Wait and see,” you create stagnation. The energy continues to build up and can even become painful because you don’t release it by taking action. The anticipation turns into anxiety, and the excitement could even turn into terror.
“Let me think about it” is even worse because you had all the energy aligned and were right at the point of taking action, and then you abruptly pull it from the physical back into the mental. The pen is hovering over the paper, or the words are right on the tip of your tongue, and you’re about to tell that person how amazing they are, or you’re about to take that first step to audition for a new show and instead, you say, “Let me think about it.”
Many people miss great opportunities because they say, “let me think about it.” We believe that we can “wait and see,” and the opportunity will still be there. What actually happens is while we pull the energy back up into the mental body to mull over it again, the opportunity disappears.
Based on what I teach with Huna, I do believe that opportunities are always present. And when you get caught in a pattern of “wait and see,” you tend to miss them. “Let me think about it” causes stagnation. That opportunity to audition or that opening to tell someone you think they’re awesome is not going to just sit around waiting while you think it through. Someone else will take the chance to audition and get the part. Someone else will tell that terrific person how great they are. An amazing house for sale or your dream job opening is not going to just sit around waiting for you to get your act together.
The thing is, when you wait for the perfect moment, it never comes. When you go for it, the moment becomes perfect. I would rather be the guy who goes for it. Sure, I sometimes make the wrong move or make mistakes. And I learn from that experience, and I am still moving toward my goals.
Maintaining forward momentum is much more important than perfection.
So, the next time you’re tempted to “Wait and see” or “Think about it,” check-in with yourself:
- Is your goal inspirational to you?
- Have you put together a plan?
- Does your gut tell you you’re on the right path?
If you can check all those boxes, do what all successful goal-getters do: Leap into action!
Mahalo,
Dr. Matt
Empowerment, Inc. is the leading authority on NLP, Huna, Mental and Emotional Release®, and Hypnosis.
For more information, visit us at www.empowermentinc.com
