The Consequences Of Failing To Act

I spoke with someone yesterday, and they were talking to me about a challenge in their life.

However, it was not the first time I had heard about this challenge from them.

Around 6 months ago, they told me about what they were facing.

By the end of our conversation, they had come to the same conclusion they had about 6 months ago.

However, the inaction had led to more challenges in their lives.

Inaction is a choice - We may feel there are no consequences, but the truth is that the consequences are significantly worse.

Why We Choose Not To Act

It is very common for us to choose not to act for a wide variety of reasons.

We often get comfortable where we are, even if it isn't a great place to be.

To change requires energy (Mg-ATP), energy our brains don't want to use unless it "has" to.

Plus, we don't know where change will lead to.

This will often create fear in our bodies.

This fear triggers the fight-or-flight response.

However, if the response isn't "strong" enough, we choose the third option, "freeze".

All of these are completely normal and human responses to any form of change, but the hidden consequences are deeper than you may realize.

The Costs Of Failing To Act

The first cost is that when we make a decision but don't act, it becomes an incomplete circuit.

Our minds like to complete tasks.

However, making a decision and not acting means it has become an incomplete task.

Slowly, this consumes energy as our brains become unable to "let it go" until it has become a "completed" task.

Of course, it may not be "as much" energy (Mg-ATP) as the change will require immediately, but the longer this remains "incomplete", the more energy we will lose!

Given enough time, it will end up costing significantly more energy overall.

There is also an emotional cost to staying in this place of decision without action.

Often, there is a huge emotional reason we come to decisions, and failing to act means the emotions will become stuck.

So we will fall into repetitive thoughts, pain, and feeling like things are repeating themselves which tears us up over time.

We also begin to think of how things would be different if we just acted, and there is pain in the difference between that imagined future, and what we are currently experiencing.

However, it gets worse!

Remember how I mentioned the nervous system?

Well, when we fail to act, that nervous system response doesn't turn off.

Over time this will cause havoc all over your body.

It impacts our heart rate, decreasing our Heart Rate Variability which impacts both our overall health as well as our ability to connect with other people (through Neurocardiology).

It also will impact our ability to sleep, as our circadian rhythms will be negatively impacted by the high nervous system activity.

There could also be an impact on our diets, which can lead to a variety of issues such as weight gain, unhealthy weight loss, indigestion, upset stomachs, loss of appetite, turning to comfort food more frequently, and more!

Further, the nervous system response prevents us from thinking at our highest potential, so our ideas will be limited, and our ability to overcome challenges will be unlikely.

All of these factors will increase Dis-Stress, and all stress adds together.

This level of Dis-Stress will make it impossible to get into Flow States, as you will have too much Struggle occurring to find the "Challenge-Skill" balance.

This means that you will become less creative, less productive, and will be stuck struggling in everything you do.

On top of this, all of these factors will make it more difficult to get any recovery.

Without recovery, we will feel drained and as time continues we will feel more and more hopeless to change anything.

The Takeaway

If you know what you want to do, now is the time.

Act today.

It may "feel" like staying put is safer, but the dangers are lurking and are far worse.

Acting today is the shortest path to helping yourself.

It may not always be "fun," but it is incredibly important to act sooner rather than later.

Don't wait.

Act.

Act now.

Be an Exemplar and Act with who you want to be!