The Research Sector

Kevin had worked as a barber at The Clipper Joint for the past five
years. He has dreams of opening his own barbershop one day. He is
beginning to feel that it isn’t really fair to have to pay Joe, the
owner, 60% of his cut. It just doesn’t seem right to him. He is the one
with the clients. He is the one cutting heads for 7 hours a day. Why
should he have to give up anything?

Well, the answer is simple. He isn’t the owner of the shop. If there
weren’t any shop, there wouldn’t be any place for his clients to go. And
if there weren’t any place for his clients to go then he wouldn’t be
getting any money to cut heads.

Lately, Kevin has been having serious thoughts about opening his own
barbershop. But, he isn’t quite sure exactly how to go about it. What he
decides to do was ask Joe, the owner of The Clipper Joint, a few
questions about how he started his shop. Maybe that would teach Kevin a
little about how to begin.

Today, the thought of opening his own shop has been weighing really
heavy on his heart. On his way home from work, Kevin stopped at Barnes
and Noble because he wanted to start a little research on finding out
how to start a business.

He was amazed at all the books that were available on this subject. He
picked up two of the books and decided that he would start by reading
these. They seemed to be full of information, even told you what
publications and forms you would need from the IRS to start your
business.

Kevin knew nothing of starting a business. It seemed really scary to
him. Just the thought of it made him nervous. What if he started his own
business and he failed? What if he lost all of his money trying to open
the business? What if he couldn’t handle it?

Kevin decided he was NOT going to fail. He was going to get as educated
as he possibly could about starting and running a business. He was going
to read everything that he could get his hands on. He was going to talk
with shop owners and get the low down from them. He would even take a
few classes at the community college. He was going to research,
research, and research.

It has been two year since Kevin stopped at that Barnes and Nobles to
start his research. Kevin is still working for Joe at The Clipper Joint.
Oh, don’t think Kevin is giving up. Oh no, every day Kevin is reading
another book on how to start a business. Next week he is attending a
seminar on starting your own business. He has talked to tons of
barbershop owners all over the state in which he lives. He has told
everybody he knows that he is going to open his own barbershop. “Hey,
Kevin did you open that barbershop yet?” “Not yet. Still working on it!”

Do you see what Kevin is doing? Kevin is forever going to start a
business. Kevin is NEVER going to start a business.

Kevin is stuck in what I call “The Research Sector.” He isn’t making any
real progress in starting his business because, in fact, he isn’t DOING
anything to start it. Oh, don’t get it twisted, Kevin is now fully
educated on what it takes to start and run a barbershop. If he wanted
to, he could hold a seminar and teach others how to start and run their
own business.

Kevin needs to get really honest with himself and realize that he is
afraid to make a move and that he is using research as a crutch to hold
him back. But instead of admitting the fear, Kevin stays where it is
safe. It only makes sense that you will thoroughly research something as
big as starting your own business, before you make a move. So as long as
he is in “The Research Sector”, he will forever be “opening his own
business.”

Some people stay in “The Research Sector” forever. They NEVER make any
real progress because they are forever researching—or forever practicing
or whatever.

It’s really a mechanism we use to avoid putting ourselves out there. We
are really fearful of what could happen if we were to really DO
something. So to make it seem as if we are doing something, we spend all
of our time in the beginning stages, the learning process.

In order to achieve your dreams and desires you must TAKE ACTION.

Action is defined in the Merrian-Webster Online dictionary as a thing
done.

Nothing happens until you TAKE ACTION.

You MUST DO SOMETHING in order for things to happen.

I know that it may “feel” a bit scary at first. I know that venturing
out into the unknown can really cause a lot of crazy thoughts that will
have you second-guessing yourself.

But unless you muster up the courage and the confidence, you will never
realize your dreams, your goals, and your purpose.

Here’s my suggestion: why not find something to do that you aren’t
fearful of doing?

Let’s say that starting your own business requires you to write out your
Mission Statement. Hey, that’s something you can do. You know what you
want to do so you can easily write it down. Wa-la! You actually took
action.

Or, let’s say, you want to be a writer. Spend your day looking up the
name, address, phone number and email address of the person who receives
article submissions for the magazines and newspapers that your article
will fit in. If it makes you nervous to call and talk with them on the
phone, send an email.

Let me give you an example.

Suppose Kevin started his research and discovered that the first thing
he will have to do is to create a business plan. But, being that he is
new to this, he doesn’t know what a business plan is so he does a little
more research and finds out how to create a business plan.

Action: Kevin could start writing up his business plan. If he gets stuck
and needs help, he could TAKE ACTION and seek advice.

By starting with his business plan, he is still basically working alone
and doing something that is less fearful.

So if you start with the things that you can do alone, things that you
aren’t fearful of doing, then you will still be accomplishing something.

If you make it a point to DO something every single day, you will find
that you will be getting closer and closer to your goal. And, the more
that you accomplish, the more confidence you will develop. When you
start seeing how far you are getting along, you will be more motivated
to try new and different things. When you realize that you took a giant
step and that you are still alive, no one has eaten you up or thought
you were crazy for asking, you will develop more confidence to try new
and different things. That is just it. YOU WILL HAVE TO DO SOMETHING.

The key is to DO something EVERY SINGLE DAY!

Nothing will happen unless you TAKE action.

And you MUST take action EVERY SINGLE DAY--or at least every other day.

It’s sort of like if you decide that you want to get in shape. You want
to turn your stomach into a six-pack so you could look great in a
bathing suit.

If you do sit-ups and crunches one day and then do nothing for two
months, then after two months have passed, you remember you wanted a
great looking tummy so you do more sit-ups, you will not get any
results.

In order to get the type of cuts and flatness that you desire, you must
do sit-ups, crunches or some form of stomach exercises EVERY SINGLE
DAY—or every other day. Any other way simply won’t work.

ACTION PLAN: Make it a point to DO something today--even if it takes
you a little out of your comfort zone. If stepping out of your comfort
zone is too uncomfortable, then do something today that you ARE
comfortable with, but make sure you DO something. Then tomorrow, repeat.
And the next day, repeat again--and so on and so forth.

Dawn Fields is a motivational speaker, author and coach. She has an amazing way of reaching you with her down-to-earth style and her ability to make the impossible seem possible. Sign up for her FREE weekly newsletter by sending a blank email to mailto:yourlifespurpose-subscribe@topica.com.