I finished Atlas Shrugged a few hours ago. I loved it despite my not fully buying the philosophy of objectivism Ayn Rand espoused. I’ll discuss those criticisms in a future article. In nearly 1,200 pages, the single most important line to me sums up, in ten words, why I’ve been successful when so many others haven’t.
… “we who thought and acted, while they wished and prayed” …
– John Galt, Atlas Shrugged
[mainbodyad]I touched on this concept in the article called “La molesse est douce, et sa suite est cruelle.” Ideas are marvelous; it is from them that all else flows – success and failure, good and bad. But ideas are worthless unless converted into action. Understanding microwave rays won’t do anything for you but building a microwave oven turns that knowledge into popped popcorn. Knowing how to build a violin won’t fill the world with a single note unless you actually do it. No one will hand you the life you want. No one will make your dreams come true. You are the only one endowed the power to bring those things into existence.
Everything you see in life, from the freight trains you pass to the food you eat, the car you drive to the clothes you wear, exists because somewhere, a man or woman made a choice to convert an idea into action and transform matter into a form he or she desired. Whether a skyscraper or a cinnamon roll, someone had to think, take action, and bring the manifestation of their thought into the world. Image © Hemera/Thinkstock
The idea of “someday” is important. Rand talks about the notion that the greater the mind, the longer the time perspective. The fool thinks only of the moment, the wise man of centuries. You should always have the “someday” goals in your mind; the things you will do when you are able and ready. But you must make sure that “someday” doesn’t become a crutch or prison from which you never escape. When you use it, you should always follow up with a mental question to yourself: “Why not today?“
If you say to yourself, “I’ve always wanted to play the piano.” Why not today? “I’ve always wanted to eat at that restaurant.” Why not today? “I’ve always wanted to go back to college.” Why not today?
That one question has enormous power. All life comes from applied action; kinetic force that moves and shapes matter. Every railroad, every highway, every computer, every lamp, every book, every pair of shoes, every work of art, every song ever composed, every automobile, every store, every button, every pen, every candy bar, every air conditioner … all of them came first from an idea that someone converted into matter.
This is all, of course, another way to say, “Faith without action is dead.” Great truths never change. They are as universal and foundational as chemistry. Everything is causality.
Reader Comments (8)
Comments are presented chronologically, with replies indented beneath the comments to which they respond.
crabhooves
October 16, 2010
I agree with this very strongly. Lately I've realized that if i say I want to do something someday (this mostly applies to goals and new skills) that it'll just be consigned to the ether and I'll never do it, its an illusion,l therell never be a moment where I decide to finally do it, so i need to be more proactive.
Right now I'm working towards five goals, once one of those is finished ill move onto the next "someday". I can't remember who I heard this from, it might be a mix of people saying similar things but I think I got the idea from you Joshua. Basically waking up each day and setting out actionable tasks each day to bring me closer to my goals. It's working tremendously so far.
Joshua Kennon
October 22, 2010
Replying to crabhooves
Yeah, that was back when I was reading a lot of Peter Drucker's life work. It was all I wrote about for awhile. He believed that the ONLY question should be: What is actionable right now, in this moment? The reason: No other moment exists. You can't do anything about the past and you can't work in the future, you just have this second, right now, in front of you. If you focus on things that will get you closer to your goals, over time, it will happen. It really helped the way I manage my life.
I got it from a book called Management - Revised Edition by Peter F. Drucker. It is fairly cheap at Amazon and a great read. That man was to management was Warren Buffett is to investing.
Donna Bayley Lovett
August 29, 2017
Replying to Joshua Kennon
So glad to be re-reading this thread. I struggle with procrastination, I have SO many things I want to do, and then I get overwhelmed and don't do any of them. I have lists, but then can't make up my mind which list to start first. Okay, I'm going to go online and order this book. My highlighters will soon be happy.
Kwame
October 17, 2010
True Josh. That type of procrastination used to be the story of my life. i could make a decision on doing something or starting a project and before you knew it more that a month could pass by and i wouldnt have done anything about it. Not that I forgot to, but i couldnt get my self to start.
Thank God I have made a lot of progress getting rid my bad habit of procrastination. I still struggle with it, but I am much better than I used to.
I wonder Josh, have you ever in anyway struggled with procrastination?
I think you should shed more light on this issue or maybe right a book on it because a lot of people struggle with it.
Joshua Kennon
October 22, 2010
Replying to Kwame
Kwame,
My personal issue was never procrastination, but rather the "shotgun" dilemma.
Let me explain. Years ago, one of the most famous American football coaches in history was asked why he was so successful. He explained that he was like a rifle - a single bullet that left a gun, found its target, and obliterated it. Most people, he said, were shotguns. They blow their effort, time and energy in a spray of bullets that go everywhere, making a lot of little dents all over the place. Success in life, he argued, came from being a rifle and not a shotgun.
I always had so much energy and excitement for whatever project I was starting, that I tended to start too many at once. This ended up having the same effect as procrastination because I wasn't able, in the early days, to focus on any one thing long enough to make it work like it should have. Only when I became obsessively focused on what it was I wanted in my life did things start to move a lot faster. The change was substantial.
The best fight against procrastination came from Peter Drucker. He said that there is no tomorrow, there is no yesterday, there is only right now, this moment. What can you do right now that is actionable? What can you do, in this very second, to get you closer to your goal? Drucker said if you go through life doing that, you will wake up one day much further than you ever dreamed imaginable.
Joe Woody
October 20, 2010
That is a great lesson to pull from the book, though some of that book was a bit too much for me. Still liked it a ton.
Joshua Kennon
October 22, 2010
Replying to Joe Woody
I know what you mean about it being too much. Yeah, sometimes she took things to far. Other times, I just didn't get what she was thinking. John Galt's speech took Rand 10 years to write and at times, it just drug on like a monotone record. For me, it lacked all of the pacing and joy of Francisco's money speech. Far from being the apex that revealed her philosophy, I kept thinking, "How much longer until it is over?". And Dagney suddenly falling head over heals in love with a man she's never met? The writing seemed forced and contrived there. But those sins are minor compared to the accomplishment of the tome.
Joshua Kennon
October 22, 2010
Replying to Joe Woody
P.S. I should say thank you, so thank you! It was you mentioning that you had read it that made me go pick up the copy off my bookshelf. I read a few pages and then was hooked.