Just Do It: What we can learn from the NIKE motto

Have you ever wondered why the motto “Just Do It” has become such a powerful and memorable phrase? The iconic Nike slogan has transformed its brand identity into more than just selling sneakers, but rather, selling a mindset. A mindset that inspires us to stop procrastinating and jump into motion. To me, it’s a simple phrase that embraces the idea of taking action.

The problem is many of us don’t take as much action as we’d like, and we end up frustrated and regretting it later in life. Well the primary solution is to convert our untapped potential into the habit of taking action…..and Just Do It! Now of course it’s easier said than done. That’s why we’ll be covering the price of inaction, what’s holding us back from taking action, and key steps to foster the habit of action so we can increase our productivity, become highly effective and accomplish our goals.

The Price of Inaction:

For years, I've been a passenger watching life happen to me instead of proactively steering it for me. It could have been due to apathy, bad habits, procrastination, laziness, or all the above. What I realized is that just because we don’t act, it doesn’t mean that nothing happens. Time still passes and things change……because change is the only constant.

To understand the importance of action, we need to first understand the consequences of inaction. Imagine throwing away a brand new, and perfectly working battery. It would be such a waste. Now think of yourself as that battery, filled with potential energy just waiting to go kinetic. If you’re perfectly happy and fulfilled with your current situation, then hats off to you (you’re on the right path). But if you aren’t doing the things you know you need to do, here’s a gentle nudge for what’s at stake:

• Stagnation & Loss of Momentum: Without action, you may become complacent and find yourself stuck in the same place (for years, decades, or even the rest of your life), with no progress or personal growth.
• Wasted Potential & Missed Opportunities: When you don’t maximize your potential, you prevent yourself from becoming the person you could have been. Even if opportunities are presented to you in the future, you may not have the developed mindset, skillset, or capability to capitalize on these opportunities.
• Financial Consequences: A lack of action towards saving, investing, life planning, or career advancement can lead you to financial difficulties down the road.
• Reduced Self-Confidence: When you avoid taking action, you erode your self-confidence and self-esteem because you begin to doubt your own abilities. The repeated pattern of inaction serves as evidence that you are worth less. You then become more risk-averse because you are no longer willing to bet on yourself, which can then create a vicious downward spiral.
• Regret: One of the most profound costs of inaction is regret. When you look back, you don’t want to feel a deep sense of regret for not acting on opportunities, goals, or important life decisions that could have changed the course of your life for the better.

What’s Holding You Back?

So if taking action is all we need, then what’s holding us back? It could be the fear of failure, self-doubt, decision paralysis, a lack of clarity, or an unwillingness to step outside of our comfort zones. Besides the obvious constraints of time, energy, and resources, the biggest constraint is actually our mindsets (our mentalities and habits).

When you think about it, everything starts with your mind. Your mind creates your thoughts, your thoughts create your actions, and your actions compound with time into your reality. Maybe you want to lose weight, get promoted, earn more money, travel to a new country, or spend more time with your family. It could be something as simple as wanting to walk your dog one extra day per week.

In any of these cases, it all boils down to your mindset and whether you want it bad enough. Just remember that thinking about doing the thing is not doing the thing. It’s easy to get stuck in a cycle of procrastination. You think of a million reasons not to do something, and then you convince yourself that it’s okay to put it off for another day (or ignore it altogether). The irony is that the total time you’ve spent contemplating doing the thing, may have been enough time to actually do the thing.

How to Just Do It - Defining Victory In Your Own Life

Tying the Nike slogan “Just Do It” back into our own lives, one primary question to ask is, what should we be doing? Given that the name “Nike” originates from the Greek Goddess of Victory, it's only fitting that we are able to define victory. What does victory (or success) look like to you?

Here’s a 4 step process for defining and taking action towards your victorious life:

1. Find Your North Star: Sit down and think about what the bigger vision is for your life. A clearer direction will help you to focus on where you need to take action.
2. Change Your Narrative: Stop telling yourself the same old story that you are a procrastinator. Instead, start telling yourself that you are capable of accomplishing what you set your mind to.
3. Prioritize Your To Do List: Rank the most critical and time sensitive items on your to do list (if you don’t have one, then create one). Focus on high priority tasks that align with your overarching goals for victory.
4. Remove Distractions & Count Down from 3, 2, 1: Identify and remove the things that create friction and prevent you from taking action in your life. Then, whenever you’re thinking about starting a task, don’t let your brain convince you of reasons why you can put things off another day. Just count down from 3, 2, 1 and jump into motion.