MOTIVATION - Don't Ever Do . . . . Nothing

MOTIVATION – Don’t Ever Do . . . . Nothing


By Nikki Viljoen of N Viljoen Consulting CC November 2009

Theodore Roosevelt said “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing that you can do is nothing.”

Wow! Ironically enough, my good friend and colleague Colleen Larsen of Women In Finance (http://www.womeninfinance.co.za) and I were discussing this very issue earlier today. Doing nothing about something never makes the problem go away – in fact it usually just makes it that much worse.

Obviously, in any given situation, it is always a good thing to do the ‘right’ thing. That’s just a given and it always makes life just that much easier.

The dilemma comes along when there is indecision or when the decision comes packaged with a huge consequence – one that we are perhaps not so willing to subject ourselves to.

Here is where the danger lies. Here is where we meet the challenge . . . or not. This is where we usually step back from the situation. Oh and don’t misunderstand me for one moment – stepping back from a situation is within itself, not a bad thing if the reason we are stepping back is to take a breath and look at what is happening. That is definitely not a bad thing. But once you have stepped back you still need to action something.

Step back, but don’t come to a full stop. Strategize, plan, engage and get going again. Do something for goodness sake!

Doing nothing is quite detrimental to yourself. Doing nothing means that nothing will happen. Doing nothing will often created a negative situation or even a vacuum and it will result in . . . nothing!

Remember that every action causes a (re) action. So get busy, get moving, get actioned!

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za