Are You All Talk and No Action and How to Turn that Around?

Do you find yourself constantly talking about projects you want to do yet fail to ever follow through?

Are you all talk and no action?

Here are a few ways to help turn that situation around.

Disclosure – This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Any compensation I receive does not affect the price you pay.

Watch what you talk about

Let’s deal with the talking part first.

If you aren’t one to follow through it might be a good idea to stop talking about all of the things you are going to do.

This doesn’t mean you can’t dream, plan and work towards them, it might just mean keeping an idea to yourself until you actually start doing something about it.

Get the project up and running then shout it from the rooftops!

You might be wondering what’s the harm in talking about stuff. If you constantly talk about things you are going to do yet never deliver, people might start to lose faith in you.

People might stop taking you seriously when you start talking about your plans. While you are talking about your plans, they might be thinking something along the lines of – It will never happen. I’ve heard it all before.

This sort of behavior can tarnish you on both a professional and personal level.

Related post – Should You Keep Your Goals to Yourself?

Stop talking about stuff you don’t really want to do

Let’s be honest, some people like talking about doing things but have no real urge to do them. It’s the talking part that attracts them in the first place. Talking can make us sound good.

Traveling is a perfect example. People say they would like to visit certain places but even with ample time and money on their hands, they choose to do something else.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with any of the above. Daydreaming is fun, creative, and harmless. If you love to daydream, find someone who you can daydream with.

My only thought here is that you might want to be selective about who you chose to talk about your daydreaming with. If you are constantly talking about stuff you want to do (but not really) you might be frustrating people who are actually doing them or have real plans to do them.

Pick one project to focus on

People talk about doing a lot of different things but have a hard time picking one to start with.

This can be a result of having too many choices. Too much choice can be dangerous, we end up choosing nothing.

If you are a naturally gifted multipotential you may be brilliant at taking on a variety of big projects all at once and getting them all finished on time. I take my hat off to you if you fit into that category.

For the rest of us, my advice is to pick one major project and focus on seeing that through from start to finish.

Start and Finish

Sounds so easy when it’s written in those two little words doesn’t it? Start – Finish what could be easier?

Oh, how I wish it were that simple.

Some people find the starting particularly hard. Personally, I am good at starting but sometimes struggle with finishing. For me, finishing is the hardest part.

Pick which one you have the most problem with and throw all of your efforts into overcoming that particular challenge. The best way to work through any demons you have with starting and finishing is by taking action.

I would love to tell you there was some other way but there’s not. Give yourself the thrill and satisfaction of finishing what you start and that will motivate you to go after more of the same.  

Addictions are usually bad but it might be a good idea to get addicted to starting and finishing.

Related post – Are You Ready to Take Action?

Do the work

This is what puts some people off completely.

We might like the idea of launching our book, blog, or business and all of the attention and interest it generates but we quickly realize that there is a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in between the starting, finishing, and launching.

We have to do the actual work part.

Let’s imagine we are talking about writing a book here. It’s hard work. It’s hour after hour, week after week (sometimes year after year) of sitting down and doing the work. It takes time, time that many people would prefer to be doing something else.

It can be frustrating, maddening, and hard and that’s before all the panicking it’s not good enough kicks in!

Hardly the glamorous picture some people have in their heads.

Come to terms with the amount of work required.

Related post – 16 Reasons You Are Not Achieving Your Goals

Look at the big picture

Time management experts say that to complete a massive project, you need to break it down into smaller tasks and then systematically work through each of those tasks.

So you break your project down into what appears to be manageable tasks and off you go. Except for one small thing.

Breaking a project down scares the shit out of some people because they realize just how much hard work is really involved.

It scares them into doing nothing.

If you are more of a big picture person start with the big picture. Eventually, you will have to break the task down but if you have already started and gotten some momentum, hopefully, that will be enough to fend off any debilitating fear or overwhelm and allow you to keep going.

Watch out for tinkering

If you are a writer or blogger you probably cringed a bit reading that headline. Tinkering means endless additions, rewrites, and editing.

I struggled with this problem when I was writing my eBook. I kept making changes and completely missed my deadline.

Tinkering can mean not finishing.

If you allow it to, tinkering can go on forever. You need to get yourself to the point where you can say – It’s done.

If you are a perfectionist, you might have to make peace with the phrase – It’s good enough.

To do what you want to do and be who you want to be there is no other way than to take action and to stick with your project until it is completed.

Do you suffer from all talk and no action? If so what is the one task you can do right now to move forward? 

If you enjoyed this post or feel one of your friends could benefit from reading it, please share it on social media.

Read Next – 12 Ways to Show Up For Yourself