Manly Virtues Series: Thinking vs Acting: Thomas Shelby
“I Think, Arthur. That’s What I Do. I Think. So That You Don’t Have To.”
The voice of Arthur in this scene is the voice of hesitation hidden as caution.
Not all of us have people to do our work for us whilst we do the smart work of thinking. However, you need to apply yourself to deep thought, planning and strategy so that when the time comes to take action, you won’t have to hide your hesitation behind a masquerade of ‘necessary’ deliberation.
In the real world, the clock is always running. Hesitation will make you miss a lot of opportunities. Whether this is an opportunity in business, to invest, to assert yourself or to enforce a boundary in a relationship, you will need to have your basic strategies thought out.
If Thomas Shelby does not encourage you to think when it is time to think and to pounce when it is time to pounce, then hear the mighty general, Sun Tzu:
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
Now here Sun Tzu introduces a powerful concept on top: that is secrecy. Many men run their mouths just too much and end up losing their stamina to prove their point. If you are going to do it, don’t sing about it. Let your actions speak for themselves.
Speed is very necessary if you are to do great things and reach completion. The world rewards finishers. A lot of people have ideas and that is just a starting point. A lot of people start businesses. A lot of people get gym memberships. But real life does not give out certificates of attendance. It rewards the victors. In fact, you lose a lot of opportunities pursuing things that you don’t finish. There is no reward for beginning, only for finishers.
This is why when you move, you have to fall like a thunderbolt; hard and fast. Think and plan, and when you take action, make it massive and make it count.
Don’t think when you should be taking action.
When the time you were training for comes, there should not be time for hesitation. No hesitation, no weakness.
