👣 Step 56: Doing Nothing is Doing Something

A few weeks ago, I talked about one of my mottos: "If you want to, you will." I want to note that the opposite is also true: "If you don't want to, you won't."

The first form of the phrase denotes action. Doing.

The second form denotes inaction. Not doing.

But both are still action. And it is very important to truly understand that.

As humans, we struggle understanding things that we can't see or measure.

• We understand when someone's broken a bone, but when they're depressed? That's harder to comprehend the severity.
• We understand when business actions give us a financial return, but when they build brand value and social capital? That's hard to track.
• We understand when doing favors for others gets us favors in return, but when it builds trust? That's just a feeling.

In the same way, we struggle with viewing inaction as action, because inaction is simply... nothing. Nothing happened. It doesn't exist.

You can see and measure action. You can't do that with inaction.

But inaction is equally (if not more) important, because it's still a decision. It still shows something about you.

Doing nothing is doing something.

We've heard this sentiment from thought leaders throughout the ages:

I could go on. You get the point. Inaction is action.

And taking it a step further: in leadership, when action is followed by inaction, that tells a lot more about the person that did nothing than the person that did something.

What you allow is what you accept.

• If you allow negative self-talk (things like "I'm stupid," "I'm lazy," "I'm bad at this"), you accept it.
• If you allow people to treat you badly in your relationships, you accept it.
• If you allow someone in a group chat to say something outrageous, you accept it.
• If you allow people at work to not meet their deadlines or cause issues with coworkers, you accept it.
• If you allow your leaders (political, religious, professional, or personal) to do the wrong things, you accept it.

What you allow is what you accept.

No one is perfect. Trust me, I've got areas I need to get better at acting on things. But it's important to at least be aware of them so that you can make progress.

So, when you think about your life - your personal habits, relationships, workplace, and leaders - what do you accept?

Where does inaction show up for you? And where should you turn inaction into action?

Because again, they're both action. And they both show something about who you are.

Doing nothing is doing something.

See you next Thursday, Steppers.

We will succeed,

Grayson

​graysonstepanek.com​

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Song of the Week:

GPS NoCap PREVIEW   ​

It's so cool to see NoCap getting a lot of love now. His new album Heaven on Mars is a good development of his sound and probably my favorite project of his since I found him in 2019 through The Backend Child (Ghetto Angels will still forever be my favorite song of his - Oos loved it too). If you need some good melodic rap, give NoCap's discography a listen.