"Do things!" - Futurist Jim Carroll
Never fall into the trap of saying “I could have done that" - because that means you live a life in which you never try! (This was the first version, significantly shortened!)
Instead, be a person who does things! Who thinks about things, and then sets off to do those things.
Be a thinker-doer!
Read his words:
"My entire life has been spent only in one industry which is this one and I've been in it now for about 15 years.
I've seen a lot of people make a lot of things. I've seen a lot of people say a lot of things.
And my point of view on this or my observation is that the doers are the major thinkers - the people that really create the things that change this industry are both the thinker doer in one person."
The most successful people are those who think and those who do. Those who think through the difficult problems and then do something about the solution they find. Those who dare to dream big, and then do something to chase those dreams. Those who never say "I should have done that!" but instead, said, "Let's do it!" Action matters, initiative counts, and avoiding paralysis is critical. That means acting now – you should never wait for perfect conditions to start moving forward - instead, in a fast-moving world, your success will come from acting now, and making adjustments as you go.
Doing things matters too in terms of your knowledge and expertise - because doing things builds up your experience. Success is not a moment in time but a voyage that combines multiple failures with small marginal improvements that occur over time - your cumulative experience in doing things. The more you 'do' things, the more you find a path that allows that thing to become the bedrock for overall success.
Inaction kills - not doing things leads to organizational sclerosis. I've encountered far too many situations where organizations that are trying to chase innovation never succeed - because they never take the actual steps to achieve the goals that are set out. They never accomplish the things they need to accomplish - because they always end up following the leader after the leader has done something. They never move forward at the pace required in today's world - because they never get out of their state of aggressive indecision into actual action.
Stop stopping.
Start doing.
Do things.
Futurist Jim Carroll does many things.