Action Breeds Clarity — Your New ABC's

"Connect to those you serve" is a daily target for our team at Heroic. It's when we consciously take the opportunity to learn more about the journey of someone in our community.

It's a beautiful daily practice that I highly recommend.

As I learned from the Optimize +1, How to Meaningify Your Work, we perform better in our work roles when we're taking the time to consider how our actions impact those who benefit from our product or service.

In Life's Great Question, Tom Rath shares this example:

“In food service, for example, when a cook or someone preparing food can literally see the people they serve, it increases that customer’s satisfaction with the meal by 10%. If the cook and customer can both see one another, satisfaction with meal quality goes up 17% and service is 13% faster. You see a similar result across other professions.”

No matter how small (or large) of a role you may play in the life of another, it's important to take the time to connect to how you might serve someone else. Not only does it help us help better, but it also brings us a sense of joy and gratitude.

Now...

When doing this daily practice of connecting to those we serve, it always amazes me how often "action" is mentioned.

Yes, our community enjoys our app, the wisdom we share, and the zest our team exudes, but it wasn't until they put what they were learning into practice that things started to change.

Ideation breeds ambiguity, action breeds clarity.

Sometimes I wonder, could I write a book someday? Should I write more? What should I write about?

Then, when I remember that action breeds clarity, I sit down to write.

Not only does taking action breed clarity, it also breeds courage. As Steve Chandler tells us in Reinventing Yourself:

“Somehow, as grown-ups, we have talked ourselves into assuming that we can’t do anything we’re afraid of doing; that being afraid to do it is the same thing as being unable to do it. But a little practice just doing it shows us that this was a false assumption. Action generates courage, not the other way around.”

That courage generated by action can then be used towards more forward action. That consequent action can lead to more clarity.

Clarity may then reveal that the thing you thought you could or should be doing was actually not at all for you.

Or, you might learn that yes, you do want to pursue this thing.

Regardless, clarity goes a long way.

I may write a book someday, but the only way to build clarity about whether or not I'm willing to put in the work is to take action today — to take action right now.

Though I typically frame these articles in the context of writing or an artistic endeavor, these ABC's can be used in all parts of life.

Wanting to be a more loving spouse? What's one small thing you can do today to try being that loving spouse?

Always wanted to learn more about a certain topic? Start with a simple search today.

Want to become a better cook? Do one small thing differently in the kitchen today to get the ball rolling.

In almost all cases for all things for all of us...we've done the thinking. We've considered what it might look like. We've questioned if we could do it. We've wondered if we would even like the journey or the outcome it leads to.

Now it's time for clarity.

Take action.

Action breeds clarity.