Are YOU a Person of Action?
Have you ever considered if you’re a person of action? Granted, it’s a little bit of a strange question. But when you consider that all things getting done in the world requires some individual to be a person that takes some sort of action it becomes an extremely worthwhile question to ask yourself. Without action, your greatest ideas and thoughts never see the light of day. The thought process behind “Being a Person of Action” may be the single most important character trait we should be focused on throughout our life.
In life, all of us are constantly taking action from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed. When we get out of bed, we brush our teeth, we prepare something to eat, and we commute to work. When we address and perform our job responsibilities, we interact with others. When we cook, clean, do laundry, and more. All that falls under what I refer to as “necessary action” and doesn’t aid in qualifying us as a “Person of Action.” I differentiate necessary action and being a person of action by the method of motivation. It’s the motivation behind any action taken that helps determine its purpose and value. Our survival instincts influence the motivation behind our necessary action. Our emotional instincts influence actions that involve risk. That’s the key. Identifying as a person of action requires the emotional self-management of risk and how much risk each of us is willing to tolerate and accept. Emotional action is the action we can utilize to overcome any and all obstacles.
Famous examples of a person of action would include President Harry Truman (The Buck Stops Here!), Thomas Edison (failing thousands of times but never giving up in his quest to develop a light bulb), Anne Frank (using a diary as a survival strategy), and Christopher Colombus (who risked his very life in several different ways to pursue success). I could create an endless list of historical people of action, and each of them can provide inspiration that can be utilized by all of us. The goal is finding someone you personally admire who took action in life, and because of that action accomplished something similar to what you too would like to accomplish. And it’s not just historical people where you can find great examples of a person of action. We are ALL surrounded by great examples each day.
Recently I learned an incredible life lesson when I was introduced to the woman that The Detroit News had selected as the “2019 Michiganian of the Year.” Her name is Pamela Good, and she started a non-profit called Beyond Basics which tackles the literacy challenge facing our country with proof of success. The literacy gap is a nationwide crisis. Turns out that over 60% of 8thgrade students are reading below proficiency IN ALL 50 STATES (Source: NEAP: National Assessment of Educational Progress Reading Results (nationsreportcard.gov, 2024)). In a conversation with Pam along with some targeted research, my curiosity encouraged me to find out Pam’s story and how all of this came about.
Back in 1999, then a suburban Detroit mom with kids in elementary school, Pam was part of a coat drive delivering coats that had been collected to an impoverished Detroit inner-city elementary school. As she was dropping off the coats, she realized that the students at that school needed a lot more than just coats to pursue success in life, and she felt called to try to make a difference. Her research led her to focusing on literacy, with the thought that if a child is a proficient reader upon graduation from high school, the world offers opportunities to them that don’t exist for someone who reads poorly or not at all. Those opportunities include future employment that offers a living wage, financial independence, being a contributing member of society, and a clear pathway to pursuing dreams.
Pam pursued a solution that helped every single student and became one of the most shining examples of being a person of action. In 1999 she took action when she noticed an unfairness plaguing children. From 1999-2002 she took action developing a solution to bring all children up to grade level reading with six-week intervention tutoring. She incorporated Beyond Basics (beyondbasics.org) in 2002 and took action to provide evidence and data that her solution could work for everyone. By 2008 she had the data and evidence of her program’s success, and she took action to impact as many children as possible in the state of Michigan.
Beyond Basics success continues today employing over 300 tutors across the state and bringing thousands of students up to appropriate grade level reading with comprehension skyrocketing. Those students have all experienced a rise in grade point average in math and science and all their other subjects. NONE OF THIS SUCCESS WOULD HAVE OCCURRED IF PAM WASN’T A PERSON OF ACTION. Pam inspires me to be a person of action for the things I’m passionate about!
Does this matter to YOU? It could. Pam’s a perfect example of one person making a difference. She took action and has had a positive effect on thousands of students lives, and thus on all of the communities that have embraced her solution. Famous author Andy Andrews, in his book “The Butterfly Effect,” utilizes Joshua Chamberlain (search him, it’s worth your time) as a person of action. At the battle of Gettysburg, Chamberlain said two words that changed the history of the world. Historians believe the United States of America wouldn’t exist if he hadn’t.
Most of us are bogged down in dialogue about important subjects that impact our current society. We debate, we argue, we attempt to claim our solution will work best, and we commit time, lots of time, to pushing our point of view ahead of everyone else’s. The biggest current problem involves all of us being stuck in the mud due to a lack of people willing to take action. So, here’s what I’m asking of you. Find a local challenge. Something you’re passionate about. It’s important that it’s local for you to have the greatest impact. Then become a Person of Action whose actions can provide measurable results. Action that can be modeled by others who share your passion to improve the community challenge you’ve chosen. Then send me an email and tell me about it. I may want to take action of my own. Hey…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!