Have you ever ended a day and wondered, What the hell did I actually do today? You were probably in what I like to call the motion trap. It’s that space where you feel like you’ve been busy all day, spinning your wheels, but not making any real progress. We’ve all been there—myself included. The difference between motion and action is something I see all the time with my clients, and to be honest, I still catch myself falling into this trap occasionally.
So, what’s the difference between motion and action? Motion is all the stuff that feels productive but doesn’t really move the needle. It’s busy work. You’ve got a full to-do list, but at the end of the day, you’re no closer to your goals. Action, on the other hand, is what actually pushes you forward. It’s scary, risky, and often uncomfortable—but it’s also what gets you results.
My Own Motion Trap
When I first started my business, I spent months building my website from scratch. I knew a bit about HTML and CSS from high school, so I thought I’d design it myself. Hours turned into days, weeks, and eventually months. I was tweaking every little thing—fonts, colors, layouts. And guess what? I felt like I was making progress. My website slowly took shape, and it looked pretty damn good. But was it really moving me toward my goals?
In hindsight, I could have hired someone to design it for me and saved myself a ton of time. I could have used a simple drag-and-drop platform like Squarespace or Wix and had it done in a fraction of the time. Or I could have just thrown up a messy first draft and tweaked it as I went. But I didn’t. I was stuck in motion because, in my mind, busy equaled productive. I was telling myself that working on my website was the path to more clients and more income.
The truth? It was just busy work. I wasn’t taking the kind of real, concrete action that would actually move me toward my goals.
Why Do We Get Stuck in Motion?
There are a few reasons why we fall into the motion trap:
Control: I love being in control. I’m the kind of person who likes to do everything myself, from building IKEA furniture to coding a website. There’s a sense of pride in saying, “I did this.” But pride doesn’t always get you results.
Perfectionism: My website was literally my name, so it had to be perfect, right? I wanted everything to be just right because it felt like a reflection of who I was. But in reality, chasing perfection was just another way of procrastinating.
Fear: At the heart of it, I was afraid. Afraid of putting myself out there, afraid of being judged, afraid of failure. It was safer to keep tweaking my website than to take real action that might lead to rejection.
What Does Action Look Like?
Real action is scary because it involves risk. One of the scariest but most impactful actions I took was launching my first webinar. I had to build the webinar, practice my presentation, and promote the hell out of it. There was a lot of time, effort, and money at stake—and I was terrified no one would even show up. But I did it anyway. And it worked. I signed my first high-end client directly from that webinar.
Action is risky, yes. But it’s also the only thing that truly moves you forward. Unlike motion, which keeps you stuck in a safe bubble of busy work, action pushes you toward your goals.
Red Flags You’re Stuck in Motion
Wondering if you’re in the motion trap? Here are some common red flags:
You’ve spent hours perfecting your logo, fonts, and website design—but haven’t actually launched anything.
You’re constantly brainstorming new ideas but never implementing them.
You’re subscribed to all the business podcasts and reading every business book, but you haven’t taken any concrete steps.
You’ve watched every tutorial on how to launch a Facebook ad campaign but haven’t actually launched one.
These are all signs that you’re stuck in motion. You’re consuming information and planning, but you’re not actually doing anything.
How to Break Free From the Motion Trap
So, how do you stop spinning your wheels and start taking real, meaningful action? Here are a few steps:
Set Clear, Specific Goals: Vague goals lead to vague action. Get crystal clear on what you want to achieve, and then break it down into actionable steps.
Prioritize Ruthlessly: Not everything on your to-do list deserves your time. Focus on the tasks that directly contribute to your goals, and ditch the busy work.
Progress Beats Perfection: Perfectionism is just a fancy form of procrastination. Done is better than perfect, and every small step you take builds momentum.
Limit Your Research Time: Set a timer for how much time you’ll spend researching, then take action. Don’t get stuck in the endless loop of learning without implementing anything.
Celebrate Small Wins: Recognize your progress, no matter how small. Every step forward, even a tiny one, gets you closer to your goals.
Thrive in 5
Before we wrap up, it’s time for your Thrive in 5, where I give you quick actions you can take in five minutes or less to implement what you’ve learned today.
Set a Clear Goal: Take one minute to write down a specific, actionable goal for this week. It could be reaching out to a potential client, finishing a project, or starting something you’ve been avoiding. Write it down and keep it front and center—stick it on your computer, change the background on your phone, whatever works for you.
Declutter Your To-Do List: Look at your current tasks and ask yourself what’s actually moving you toward that goal. Get ruthless—cross off anything that’s just busy work, and focus on the tasks that will truly make an impact.
Take One Small Action: Now that you’ve got your goal and your priorities straight, what’s one thing you can do right now to get the ball rolling? It could be sending an email, making a phone call, or drafting a quick paragraph for your next project. Set a timer for five minutes and give it your full attention.
Remember, progress beats perfection every time. Small, imperfect actions will get you further than waiting for everything to be just right.