Have you ever given up owing to your circumstances and renounced taking action? I recently found this quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson in a book I was reading. On the surface, it didn’t seem to make much sense to me at first, but it has some meaningful implications attached to it.
I have been reading the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. These books talk about taking action, doing what needs to be done and fulfilling one’s duty. As someone who works in the self-development area and also deals with procrastination daily, I realized there is a massive fallacy in human thought at times.
You want results in your life, knowing that will happen when you do something for it. Sometimes, you give up on fighting another day due to circumstances or postpone your plans to hope for a better time. You think you are powerless in a situation because you lack specific resources, or only if the circumstances had been more favorable would things be different. You blame anything and everything we can find, not realizing what’s happening.
A common adage derived from the Bhagavad Gita: “Karam kar, phal ki chinta mat kar!” Translated, it says that human beings should perform their duties and not worry about the outcomes. Since we can only control our actions, that’s the only thing in our control. That is what I learned in school.
I found that the more literal translation is slightly different. Human beings should take the actions required to perform their duties as best as they can without expecting their deeds to bear any fruits or rewards.
It would be best if you only focused on your actions when you took responsibility for your duties. Blaming the circumstances or other people doesn’t do us any good. In reality, it is only by taking action that we can overcome any lack of resources or ability. We don’t have the skills to take action; we take action and gain the skills we need.
Growing up, I played Cricket, Football and Basketball. I used to ask my dad to buy me shoes for each sport. I believed that if I had those spikes, studs and Jordans, it would help me play better. Somehow, not having the equipment was getting in the way of my game. My dad being a dad, said that I needed to improve my game to a level that warranted investing. I thought it was a typical father’s response and threw a tantrum. I did not realize it then, but I wasn’t committed to sports as others. If I had continued to play the game and worked on my skills, I would have reached a certain level, and things would have followed automatically.
Having the power to do something first and only then doing it makes no sense. It is the other way around. You do the thing, and then you have the power. I learned this lesson many times in my life. I thought I would only run social media campaigns after I learned how to do it, but it is only by running a campaign can you learn the craft. I gave up on standup comedy because I would go on stage only if I had something funny; only by going to the stand will you find out if your jokes are funny. It’s like thinking; I will only talk when someone listens; on the contrary, when you speak, someone might listen.
One more situation where you might have it wrong is when you are learning to swim. It is impossible to learn to swim without entering the water. Thinking that you will enter the water after learning to swim is foolish. I was trying to improve my French language and saw many others share the struggle. Many of them never practiced and only studied because they didn’t have the confidence to make a mistake. They had it backward; they thought they would learn, improve, and speak. When you start speaking the language, you understand, improve, and become fluent.
If you want a promotion, you first have to show your superiors that you have what it takes to perform the duties required of a senior professional. You become a manager when you can show managerial qualities. People follow you only if they see that you can lead them forward.
Whenever you try something new, it is unfamiliar and uncomfortable. It takes time to improve at any activity or skill and achieve mastery. It is only then that it becomes your power. Start taking action in the face of adversity; the situation will improve, and you will have the power when you are ready to wield it.