action Archives - Brian Ondrako

Action Packed

The action of starting ends up being a lot easier when we’ve already started in our minds.

The action is connected to the need to change.

Despite that our confidence may be low and fear is gripping at our ankles, if we have the courage to decide to choose a better path for our life, starting becomes easier.

Simple to imagine, harder to implement.

Why? Because we spend more time thinking about the things that could go wrong instead of believing that we have the chance for it to go right.

Mindset is always the appropriate first step when we are struggling to get started.

The glimmer of hope that we are worthy enough to make the attempt is all the positivity we need to take the leap.

The rest will build from there.

Action PackedBrian Ondrako2023-08-04T14:45:19-04:00

Seed Round

Ideas are everywhere. They’re in our head, a notebook, a spark of inspiration from an observation.

Think of an idea as a seed on the ground.

There are thousands of those scattered around. We walk over them as quickly as they appear in front of us and they disappear in a flash behind us.

Not all seeds get fertilized. In fact, very few do.

Without the right conditions, they have no chance of turning into a majestic Redwood.

Execution is vital to its growth.

The same goes for our ideas.

Seed RoundBrian Ondrako2023-02-18T14:58:04-04:00

Tighten The Screws

Often times it’s not a big change that has to be made.

It’s a tweak.

A slight pivot.

A minor movement forward.

One more turn of the wrench.

Progress happens through tiny intentional iterations.

Make a small change and see how that helps.

Then maybe another after that.

Before long we’re on a new path forward.

Progress, not perfection.

That minor tweak in thinking is substantial.

Tighten The ScrewsBrian Ondrako2023-01-25T21:54:14-04:00

That Thing You Do

It’s only about doing.

Thinking is important.
Planning has relevance.
Ideation is helpful.

The “doing” becomes what matters the most.

Without the doing, nothing else matters.

Just start and keep iterating as you go.

That Thing You DoBrian Ondrako2022-11-01T19:37:10-04:00

Flower Power

Take a seed out of any food we are eating and place it on the table.

Don’t do anything to it and let it sit there for a few weeks.

Do you know what happens?

Almost nothing.

Do you know why? Because there needs to be some action to create change. There needs to be some focused effort for growth to take place.

That seed is a metaphor for every idea we have in our heads that we want to pursue but we don’t.

It just sits there. It toys with us. It slowly dies each day.

But what happens when put the tiniest amount of effort toward that seed?

If it’s laid inside a wet paper towel it’ll start to sprout.

If it’s buried in some soil it could plant some roots.

If it’s placed outside in the sun it might start flowering soon enough…Just like our ideas.

They just need a little love. A little attention. A little light to be shined upon them.

And then, in time, they can become something we never could quite fathom.

They blossom into the most beautiful thing we’ve ever seen.

It’s real. It’s spectacular. It’s ours.

We’ve created it and it should give us the courage to create again.

One small step at a time is all it takes.

But we have to take the first step otherwise we might be wondering if this thing will ever turn into anything special.

It will.

We just have to give it a chance to grow.

Flower PowerBrian Ondrako2022-10-17T11:16:20-04:00

Win The Day

Consistency is the worst kept secret of accomplishing anything important to us.

We must start. Not once but each and every day.

More than motivation it’s an action.

It’s the constant motion forward of small, tiny, almost insignificant steps in the direction we seek that count the most.

Others won’t see it right away.

We may barely feel it.

But knowing what we want to do and being intentional about doing it is all that matters.

We may not be prepared for the entire adventure ahead but we don’t need to be.

We just need to be prepared for today.

Get through today and we can rest up for tomorrow.

Because we’ll have to battle ourselves again to get up and keep moving.

We know it won’t be easy but that’s what makes it worth it.

Win The DayBrian Ondrako2022-08-18T19:18:22-04:00

A Full Revolution Begins with One Motion

I enjoyed writing for many years and would normally write in journals or random blog articles from time to time. The content structure and topics changed over time but similar messaging was at its core.

Positive Mindset. Consistency. Action. Progress.

A little over a year ago, leading into April 2021, I made a decision. I was a few years into my Just Get Started Podcast and loved doing the show and wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. But those are longer-form interviews. I wanted another medium to share my thoughts, my voice, and my perspective. Blogging, and really “micro-blogs”, were something I enjoyed. Something about dispelling a message into as few words as possible and making it relatable and enjoyable (and a little vulnerable) was intriguing to me.

So I made a commitment.

Launch a blog article every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday each week. I knew it was going to add some more time to my plate but it was important for me with where I wanted to go and the message I wanted to share with the world.

The message above all else is to Just Get Started.

I’m proud to say that after 12 months and over 140 blog articles later we are back in the month of April, a full year after beginning this project. I am more excited than ever to keep writing and sharing these stories and observations and I hope they have been valuable to you.

We don’t know what will happen or how it might impact us but if we believe in something or find a purpose in pursuing a meaningful project then we have to take the steps to get started and keep moving forward. Consistent action over and over again works.

Too many times I’ve sat on the sidelines and wondered and wished and never just did.

It may not work out as we want it to or we might pivot to something else but we don’t know that at first. All we know is that we want to do it.

So go do it. The only thing holding us back is ourselves.

I’ve been in the position where I sat on the sidelines because I was scared to get in the game. I didn’t believe I could do it. We all feel that from time to time. It’s when we realize that it doesn’t actually matter if we believe we can do it or not and what matters is that we try and we build on it from there. We take a leap of faith. We become brave.

Confidence breeds confidence. You only get that from being in the game and being a part of the action.

So, go do it. Whatever it is that you want to do. Start small if you want. But just start.

Whether you succeed or fail never matters, it’s that you can look back at some distant point from the future and be proud of yourself that when your number was called you suited up and checked into the game.

You weren’t going to miss this opportunity.

A Full Revolution Begins with One MotionBrian Ondrako2022-07-29T17:26:12-04:00

The Butterfly Effect

Why does a Monarch butterfly do the things it does?

Here is a caterpillar, crawling around the earth and living just fine. Then, for reasons we can’t possibly fully know, it decides to create a cocoon and after a short isolation period, boom, it now has wings.

It now can fly somehow. Not only does it fly but it flies over 3000 miles to migrate in Central Mexico each year.

How does it know to do that?

What magic just happened in that cocoon?

I can’t be for certain but it’s a great metaphor for life.

We are always changing. We are always evolving our thinking. We are always moving forward.

Each day. Each minute. Each second.

Our thoughts and actions determine the person we will be tomorrow, and the next week, and the next year.

Unlike the caterpillar, we can choose our path forward.

We can create the life that we want even if today, reading this, we might not feel we can.

Those can be hard things; change, but we are capable.

We have to have the courage to take the risk of changing from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

We have to know we are capable of the hard work to create action and progress.

And then, we have to believe we can fly.

The Butterfly EffectBrian Ondrako2021-12-27T15:17:38-04:00

Consistent Motion

Progress happens over time and is rarely seen in a moment or even a series of days. It’s a continual flow of work that creates the life that we want.

Sure, an intense workout or an unbelievable date, or an incredibly productive day is needed from time to time. Those have to be a part of the equation.

But consistency far outweighs intensity when we are trying to become happier and achieve results that are sticky and have traction.

Get started. Get started today. And get started doing something that is creating change for whatever it is you want to achieve in life.

You don’t have to run a marathon today. You just need to get out the front door and take action. Then, do the same thing tomorrow and the next day and the next day after that.

Intensity is great but it can be short-lived. Find consistency in your efforts and you’ll sustain more long-term growth.

That’s where happiness lives.

Consistent MotionBrian Ondrako2021-12-16T19:51:57-04:00

Don’t Fret Regret

Regret might be one of the least desirable emotions to have because when it surfaces we have almost no answer to it.

It’s in the past. It’s over.

We can’t fix it or go back and that’s why it hurts so much.

However, what we have to remember is that we had the chance to make the “correct” choice at that specific time. It’s easy to use hindsight to think we got it wrong but we have to remember the person we were when the decision was made.

Were they ready to make the choice that we now regret?
Were they prepared?
Did they have the courage to think differently?

It’s useless to regret decisions from the past because the person looking back is much wiser, lived, and weathered than the one that made the decision back then. They have more information now which gives them a skewed perspective on it all. Of course, we would change it if it didn’t appear to work out in our favor.

What’s more important is that the person we are today uses our past experiences to recognize new opportunities when they surface and then makes the best decision possible for their life with the information they have available to them at the time.

This way, as the years pass, there can’t be any regret because we acted in the best way we could’ve when we were called to make the tough decision.

No regrets.

Don’t Fret RegretBrian Ondrako2021-12-02T16:10:48-04:00