Personal Success & Achievement

Never confuse motion with action. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Have you watched a cat who is trying to catch something tasty for dinner? As a kid, I often used to watch our cat in the garden. She would find a spot on the ground where she could lie hidden under some foliage and would sit there, motionless, for a very long time. She was clearly very alert, however, and the slightest sound or movement would elicit a slight but sharp turn of the head. As soon as she saw something which she thought might make a tasty snack, she would lock onto it, wait until it came close enough, and then – at just the right moment – suddenly pounce. She usually got her prey, and I don’t think the bird or mouse ever saw what was coming.

We have been taught, for the most part, that we need to work hard to get anywhere in life. Nothing comes easy, right? Success comes from persistence, determination, blood, sweat and tears. Part of this may well be true – clarity about where we are heading and persistence are important. But I don’t believe that a great deal of effort is needed to get where we want to be. It’s more about the kind of action we take. Call it ‘working smart.’ Our cat knew all about it. I like the phrase ‘inspired action’ since this really gets to the heart of the matter. We need do something: it’s no use sitting around and expecting results to just happen. But we need to do the right thing. When we take just the right action at just the right time, amazing things can happen. We can learn a lot from the way our cat went about things.