Pick an area: business, management, finance, financial planning, living-well, living a longer, better life? Most recognised experts in those fields agree: most people know what to do, they just don't do it.
It's a bit like the guys at the comedy club who yelled, 'Heard it!' every time the stand-up comic told a joke.
When it comes to advice, we've heard it all before, agree with most of it, but we just don't follow-through.
We know that the best advice you can take is our own, yet we don't heed our own words of wisdom.
Take, for example, the billion-dollar business of dieting for weight-loss.
If people did what they know they should do, there'd be no such thing as Jenny Craig.
Dieters start out with the best of intentions - a clear picture of what they hope to achieve, clearly defined weight-loss goals, and a determination to realise their vision and achieve their goals.
After sticking to the diet for a few days, and immediate results fail to show, many people toss-in the towel and resort to their previous practices.
So, how do you get people to do what they know they should do? I can answer that.
Actually, I have identified three related things guaranteed to get people to do what they know they should do There are others, of course, but here are the main ones.
1.
Crisis Crisis generally precedes any meaningful change.
A smoker quits smoking when she is diagnosed with lung cancer.
A boozer give-up the drink when he receives some warning signs that his liver is about to call it quits.
The bloke takes-up exercise when his GP delivers the ultimatum to lose weight, or else.
Even if it's too late, people will change if the news and encouragement are sufficiently critical.
Thomas Kuhn's 1962 classic, Structure of Scientific Revolutions is recognised as a 'must-read' in relation to 'change'.
In a nutshell, Kuhn said that a crisis occurred when anomalies (puzzles, or challenges, if you prefer) could no longer be accommodated into the existing way of behaving.
A shift (a paradigm shift) or change was required.
The smoker could no longer accommodate the practice and continue as usual: a change was required.
Quit.
Consider the example of weight-loss.
Diet, alone, is unlikely to deliver impressive results.
The diet followed must be accompanied by lifestyle changes that includes things like a good night's sleep and regular physical exercises.
Take the example of heart disease, which accounts for a large number of deaths in Australia.
Part of the reason that heart disease is so prevalent and intractable is that it often requires significant lifestyle changes; and those changes are not easy to make.
It's only when those changes become critical, radically altering of diet and implementing serious exercise routines become immediate responses.
Often, a crisis is all that's needed to encourage us to do what we know we should do.
2.
Passion The word 'passion' derives from the Latin verb 'pati' meaning 'to suffer'.
If this derivation is applied to what we're talking about, here, one of the main reasons why people don't do what they know they should do is that they lack passion; they haven't yet suffered enough.
Once people become passionate about something, then they'll act rather than toss-in the towel before the fight even starts.
People who are overweight, for example, are not only in an ongoing battle with extra kilos but, even when (or if) they manage to reach a desired weight, they then have to work at preventing a rebound to the previous weight.
Passion is required in order to ensure that they do what's necessary to get the results they want.
Passion and motivation are closely linked.
The library shelves and bookstores are laden with information in relation to motivation.
We know two things about motivation that can be applied here: maintaining it is ongoing, it's like being in a race that never ends; and many people are quick to quit before that race gets under-way.
Three of the most important sources of motivation that can't be overemphasized are: the quality of people and stuff (books, television, media, etc.
) that we choose to be exposed to; the importance of always having something to look forward to-a reason to get out of bed each day; and passion.
3.
Get started Lao Tzu's 'The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step' is just as relevant today as it was in 600 BCE.
Getting started is an important part of getting there.
A mother was asked by her son how he could get started in the music industry.
While his mother acknowledged that she knew nothing about the music industry, she told him that he had to do two things: get-up off the lounge and head-out the door.
A budding photographer had a vision of following in the footsteps of Annie Leibovitz.
The advice the photographer received from her mentor was to get started: do something.
Talking about dieting without the necessary follow-up actions is unlikely to deliver the desired results.
Most initiatives fail to get-off the ground, principally because people fail to get started.
While everyone's idea of what constitutes success differs (a green Porsche, a perfect marriage, retiring to a tropical island); ultimately, success demands three things.
Knowing where you are.
Knowing where you want to be.
Each day, in some way, proceeding to that end-in-view.
That progress is unlikely to be in a straight line,.
Provided that you get started, you'll be further advanced toward your goal today than you were yesterday.
Doing what you know you should do and getting others to do what they know they should do is one of life's greatest challenges.
You, too, are an expert in life and living.
Let's hear what you have to say.
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