“The only way to change your life is to take action.”

George Couros
2 min readJun 14, 2022

I saw this video on TikTok from Mel Robbins, and in the middle of the night, I woke up and thought about it, and had to share it here.

@melrobbins The habit of hesitating in moments of change is what’s keeping you stuck. The only way to change your life is to take action. #melrobbins #action #hesitation #advice ♬ original sound — Mel Robbins

This quote hit me from the video:

This video hit me because of the validation it provided for my work on “The Innovator’s Mindset” and why it is crucial to go beyond the idea of a growth mindset.

As I shared in the book, here is the difference between the “fixed” and “growth” mindsets.

And here is the innovator’s mindset and how I defined it in the book.

Understand it is not “vs.” the growth mindset but an extension. It is about going beyond thinking to “create” and, as Robbins shares, move toward action.

Action without thinking often leads to negative consequences, but thinking without action leads to no results at all. I wrote this is in the chapter where I share the definition:

“Success for our students — and for ourselves — isn’t about how much we know, how efficient our systems are, or even the scores our students earn. It is, as (Thomas) Friedman wrote, about “what you can do with what you know.” Information is abundant; it’s common. What’s uncommon, and desperately needed in today’s education systems, is the innovator’s mindset.”

Years after writing the book, I still believe we need to go beyond knowing and move toward action. As Robbins shares in the caption of her video, “The habit of hesitating in moments of change is what’s keeping you stuck. The only way to change your life is to take action.

I couldn’t agree more.

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George Couros

Innovative Teaching, Learning, and Leadership Consultant. I also like dogs.