I was looking at my blog the other day and thinking about making some changes to the design and navigation of the site.  Then it hit me that I actually built this site from the ground up (with help from books, You Tube, and other blogs, of course) and posted 47 articles already.  Rewind one year back to December 2011.  I had no blog, no articles, and no clue about how to write for an audience, let alone throw stuff out for everyone in the world to see.  So what happenned?  I planted something.

As the new year begins, gyms will get crowded and Whole Foods will double its sales of organic food, vitamins and weight loss supplements.  Self-help and self-development books will fly off the shelves.  It’s New Year’s resolution time.  People will sit down, reflect, and write down a list of changes they want to see or implement in the coming year:

Save more

Lose weight

Learn a new language

Write a book

Mend broken relationships

Reflecting and planning are a good thing.  But more importantly, we have to take action.  We have to plant something.

I’m not talking about planting a tree or vegetables (although these are good things, too).  I mean do something to move you in the direction you want to go.  Do anything, no matter how small.  Buy a few books on the subject.  Find some popular blogs.  Sign up for a class.  Take someone out to lunch who has already done what you want to accomplish and pick that person’s brain.

If you’ve been successful at anything – let’s say, your job; a martial art; writing; relationships; etc. – chances are you were terrible or clumsy at it at first.  But once you planted the seed and kept at it, through patience, repetition and hard work, you inevitably got better.  You can now look back and say, “Wow, look what I’ve accomplished!”

I mentioned this blog as an example because I literally started from an idea.  It was something I wanted to do but had no clue where to start.  My “planting” was simply doing some research, visiting various sites, and reading “how to” articles.  No matter what you want to do or where you want to go, guaranteed there is someone out there who can help you get to where you want to be – and help you with those first few difficult steps.

Plant something today, keep after it, and look back in amazement when this time in 2014 rolls around.

Happy New Year!

What are you planning to plant this year?