Taking conscious action

In his book, Atomic Habits, James Clear makes the distinction between “being in motion” and “taking action.” He describes that when we are in motion, we are keeping ourselves occupied with tasks that don’t produce a clear, tangible result. Rather, when we are “taking action” our actions do produce an outcome or result. He argues that “being in motion” becomes seductive… we feel like we are moving towards our goals, but we are not really moving forward. We are forever keeping ourselves busy, but never reaching the target. For me, it brings to mind the image of a hamster wheel.

Why is it seductive? Being “in motion” allows us to feel like we are taking action – we get to pat ourselves on the back for making progress – but avoid the potential failure we can face when taking action. Being an occupational therapist, I initially pushed back on this while reading… I do think that sometimes getting “in motion” is the first step to moving forward, particularly if someone is experiencing extremely low levels of motivation, as can be the case in depression. But, I think this distinction is helpful in showing how people, myself included, can get stuck when trying to make change. Maybe one way that we get stuck is that we perpetually stay in motion, while never transitioning into taking action.

In reflecting on these ideas, I was reminded of a client I worked with – an older woman who lived alone and described herself as “constantly organizing.” She was always organizing her home and beginning new projects; however, she never reached the point of “being organized.” This was true with her decluttering projects around the home, and it applied to her efforts to eat more consistent and health meals. She could tell me all of the motions she was taking related to these goals – she researched recipes for multiple hours a day, she printed recipes and placed them in categorized stacks, she ordered groceries to have healthy food on hand. 

Ok, ok, all of these actions are good right?! Yes, of course! These are all preparatory steps for eating healthier and cooking more regularly. In our work together, I celebrated each of these small actions as moving her closer to her goal.

So what is the catch?? Well, she seemed to have difficulty actually cooking the healthy meals she was constantly planning for. As I look back on our work together, I see that potentially she got stuck “in motion” and never transitioned into “taking action.” 

We are no longer working together, so I can’t discuss these ideas with her and say exactly what it is that was holding her back, but it is interesting to think about how a fear of failure might have been a barrier to her consistently taking action. Beyond fear of failure, could there have been other barriers? One that comes to mind is the difficulty of implementing a plan. Cooking required so much energy and she frequently identified complicated recipes that had lots of steps. Coming to terms with her reduced energy level and changing her behavior as a result of that realization meant accepting that her energy level had declined. That would mean accepting aging and that she couldn’t do what she used to be able to do. That would require honesty with herself and acceptance of a changing situation. 

Adjusting her cooking habits would provide evidence of the ways that her identity had changed. She would no longer be the woman who cooked large meals and hosted family and friends; instead, she would be the woman who cooked small, simple meals, only for herself. That could be a scary identity shift to accept, even if accepting it might allow her to move forward and reinvent a new version of herself.

“Taking action” can also be challenging because often we are not fully conscious of our repetitive daily actions. For myself, I have often been busy and distracted, reacting automatically to stressors. In this state it is hard to get perspective on ourselves, to become aware of the ways that we move - physically, mentally, energetically - throughout the day. 

There is a quote on yoga from B.K.S. Iyengar that I love:

“Action is movement with intelligence. The world is filled with movement. What the world needs is more conscious movement, more action.” 

This idea resonated with me deeply. There is so much movement around us and within us. As we become aware of movement and all the ways we “stay in motion”, we can begin to move more intelligently. We can begin to take conscious action. 

Reflect on the various areas in your life - home, relationships, productivity/work/school, health, etc. Where are the areas that you find yourself “being in motion” rather than “taking action”? How can you bring more consciousness to your daily movements?

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This article was originally published on Substack, where you can access the full archive of my writing and subscribe to my Living Aligned newsletter.