Are You a Thinker or a Doer?

Thinker VS DOer

Faith by itself, if it does not have action, is dead. ­– James 2:17

 My brain loves the human brain. I mean, where will we be without it? Imagine a brainless head? Our brains ensure we think through every single step and action before we take it. It processes and analyses data fed to it at unbelievable speeds. More excitingly, it senses environments and can inform you to stand and fight or take flight when the need arises.

In your success journey your brain is very important. It is God’s gift to think and grow into success. Deep thinkers go into the recesses of the mind and draw out the solution to every challenge that they face. Thinking is a part of the success formula – a part.

The other part of it is DOing. Without doing, thinking is impotent. Thinking × Doing = Chance for Success. If either thinking or doing is zero, chance for success will certainly be zero. The higher the figures of both, the higher the chance for success in any venture.

Unfortunately a good percentage of great thinkers don’t act. They sit down, think, think, and produce no results. Have you met such? I bet you have. Isaac Newton’s first law of motion shows us that any object will remain in its state of rest or uniform motion until an external force is applied to it to either get it into motion or alter its direction and speed of motion

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In life your actions are the external force. Without them all situations will remain the same. It doesn’t matter how much you think about it, you will continue to fail, continue to stay poor, continue to stay unhealthy, continue to stay sad until – and only until – you take actions to alter the trend.

Never underestimate the power of your actions. Never say there’s nothing you can do. Take the right actions no matter how insignificant they seem. 

The Karoshi Effect

By the seventh day God had finished his work and so he rested. ­– Genesis 2:2

The Japanese term, Karoshi, means, “Death by overwork.” It is used to press upon the mind the literal effect of overwork. The Japanese even made a computer game with the same theme in which the goal is to so overwork yourself in every level until it leads to your death. It is a suicide game but you only die by work overload.

When considering this rather bizarre gaming concept I cannot help but see how closely related it is to many lives in our societies. In a bid to work hard, or increase in productivity, folks literally work themselves to death. In an article I wrote on the work rat-race many-a-folk are in, I spoke of a cycle of death that they cannot get themselves out of. This is so because they want to satisfy the basest of human needs – survival. [To read more on this article, click here].

Work should give you more life and vigor and not kill you. Every work should have a beginning and an end. When you get to the end, rest! Overwork has numerous negatives, the most obvious and immediate being stress and burnout. Stress on its own is a normal reaction to any physical or psychological demand, but prolonged and repeated exposure to stress can lead to burn-out, which brings with it a myriad of diseases.

In addition, overwork disrupts normal body processes. For example, it is normal for any human body to produce insulin, which breaks sugar. Sleep deprivation from overwork disrupts the body’s natural ability to produce insulin, thereby leaving a possibility of Diabetes.

To control your work schedule and not overwork, you should work smarter. This means you focus on the work at hand and ensure that all distractions, like social phone calls and social media platforms, are off limits. This way you will do more in a shorter period and hence have time to rest. You should also take breaks intermittently rather than work on a stretch. You should get sufficient sleep every night. Do not underestimate the positive effect a good night rest can have to your success. Finally, set work boundaries and rest boundaries. This means that you place a limit as to what you do during your work period and also during your rest time.

Work IS Progress

On the seventh day God finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. – 1st Book of Moses

 “All work and no play,” it is said, “makes Jack a dull boy.” True. Have you ever wondered what all play and no work makes Jack?

Work is a universal part of human life. Skin color may vary, cultures may be different, and tongues may be diverse but everywhere you turn on the face of the globe people work. It is a good thing to work. Paul, the fiery apostle once opined: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat”! He was of the old school that taught there is no food for lazy man.

Beyond food, there are some very important things to note about work. First, we were all created to work. We read that, “God placed the man in the Garden of Eden as its gardener, to tend and take care of it.” The very first assignment man had was work-hinged.

Second, work brings us into productive living. You cannot live productively without working. Paul encouraged us in his letter to the Ephesians, “If anyone is stealing he must stop it and begin using those hands of his for honest work so that he can give to others in need.”

Third, work teaches us self-discipline. Remember that whatever (it doesn't matter what it is) your hands find to do, do it with all of your might. It takes self-discipline to exert such a level of effort to a work.

Forth, your work is healthy for your body and mind. Waddell G., Aylward M., and Burton K. in Work and common health problems, note: “It is known that unemployed people and their families suffer a higher rate of premature death, increased rates of depression and anxiety, higher rates of self-reported ill health, heart disease and risk factors of heart disease.”

                          [also read: How to Love What You Do]

       Finally, if you work you will appreciate other peoples work. You would learn to see the efforts of others and have respect for it. It is easy to look down on another person’s efforts if you are idle but when you work your outlook will be different.