How Are Actions More More Powerful than Resolutions?
Actions don’t just speak louder than words – they move and change everything.
New Year’s Eve is almost upon us. Besides various forms of celebration people participate in around the world – lots of people make New Year’s Resolutions.
They resolve to go to the gym more, quit smoking, eat fewer carbs, spend less time surfing social media, and other similar notions.
But there is a major problem with resolution. It’s rather impotent.
How do I mean? Let’s begin by defining what a resolution is.
According to dictionary.com, resolution means:
- the act of resolving or determining upon an action, course of action, method, procedure, etc.
- a resolve; a decision or determination
- the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose
- the resulting state.
You might determine an action, resolve to do it, and get set to make it happen. But this doesn’t speak to truly doing it at all.
Resolution comes with implied action – but In and of itself is immaterial and intangible. The idea that you will determine the thing doesn’t include doing the thing.
So, you might resolve to quit smoking. Great. And how will you do that?
This is where action comes into play.
The act of doing the thing
Rather than simply resolve to do this, that, or the other thing – taking action has a much greater effect.
The trouble with resolutions is that they are often nothing but ideas. They are made with no goalpost, no plan of action – just the idea of doing that thing.
Then, we reach New Year’s Eve – the time when a lot of people resolve to do things. But most people I know never get past the idea and act on it. This is where the action is more important than the resolution to act.
That’s why, in 2011, I started to employ a new idea. I took a New Year’s Action.
Rather than resolve to do a thing – I made a full-on plan to do it. The result? I’m about to start my 11th year bogging every Wednesday.
That was the action. I observed that I had this blog I’d created – but was only posting to it randomly. It was my desire to write more. I set my intention to take an action. I would write and post a new blog once a week – every Wednesday.
Sure, I suppose that you could argue that this was a resolution. However – because there was a direct action attached to it – it was more. This wasn’t some idea or notion with no traction. I had full-on intent to act and make it happen.
Planning and carrying out an action is much more intentional than making a resolution. And that, I believe, is the primary difference.
Intention to actions
If there is no action set – just an idea or notion, like with a resolution – there is little intent behind it.
Actions, on the other hand, planned in this way, are intentional. There is a goal, a thing to do, and an action to carry it out. It’s more powerful, more meaningful, and I think goes much further in finding and/or creating change.
Resolutions are impotent and tend to lack intention. You have this idea, this notion to do a thing. It’s tied directly to the new year. But the action? That’s a whole other story.
Intentions are much easier to turn to actions because they are part of the how-to. The resolution is the blueprint for the bookshelf from Ikea that you would like to build that you found online. Intention is buying the bookshelf and unboxing it. Action is building it.
Resolution needs intention to be turned into action. But rather than just resolve to do this thing or that – go directly to the action.
Taking action is an act of control. When it comes to ourselves, we have near-total control. But it’s specific in that it’s only on us.
I can decide to choose that one day a week that I will write the blog. Then, it’s up to me to do it. But setting the action with intent and determination – it’s more powerful than a mere resolution.
Why? Because it’s intentional and directed. Resolutions tend to have no intent nor direction – they’re usually mere notions for this thing or that. Actions have built-in intention.
That is why actions are more powerful than resolutions.
Bypass resolutions with actions
The idea of a New Year’s action over a resolution has been powerful. That’s because it activates mindfulness – which puts you in control.
When it comes to any control whatsoever – we only have ourselves. I can’t make you do anything – nor can you make me do anything. We can try to influence, persuade, cajole, and even coerce each other into doing things – but we can’t make one another do them.
I am the only one inside my head. If I so desire – I have total control over myself. Externally, that means I choose how I appear to the world via hairstyle, clothing, and the like. The real, greater control, however, is all about what goes on within.
All of us are made up of ego, conscious mind, and subconscious mind.
Subconscious mind is where habits, beliefs, and values live. Conscious mind is present awareness of the mindset/headspace/psyche self. Ego is who we believe we are based on the bridge between the conscious and subconscious mind – as well as how we project ourselves to the world at large.
Via mindfulness, the conscious mind does the driving. This is how you gain control – and can take a New Year’s action to make a change.
Action is one of the four elements of mindfulness, alongside thoughts, feelings, and intentions. Thus, mindfulness of your thoughts, feelings, and intentions puts you in control of your actions.
Hence why actions are much more powerful than resolutions. The thought, feeling, and intention behind them pave the way along your path to control a change you desire to make. Why merely resolve to make a desired change when you can act on it with greater power instead?
Will you be creating any New Year’s Actions to take?
This is the five-hundred and twenty-third exploration of my Pathwalking philosophy. These weekly essays are my ideas for – and experiences with – using mindfulness and positivity to walk along a chosen path of life to consciously create reality.
I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world and empower as many people as I can with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-post and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including expanded ideas, is available here. Check out Amazon for my published fiction and nonfiction works.
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