A Change Question - I Have Made The Decision To Change. Now How Do I Act On It?

Welcome to A Change Question — a special mini-series from The Inner Game of Change.
In each short, solo episode, I bring you one question worth sitting with — the kind that can spark both personal and professional shifts. 

Most of us believe change starts the moment we make a decision.
But the truth is, a decision is only the promise — the act is the proof.

In this episode, I explore the gap between deciding and doing — that shadowy space where many of our best intentions quietly stall.

Through the stories of Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, and Malala Yousafzai, who turned conviction into courage, I unpack what it really takes to turn resolution into motion.

We’ll also look at what neuroscience tells us about why our brains reward decision-making — but not follow-through — and how to build the bridge from intent to impact.

Because decisions without steps become drift.
But decisions with steps become movement.
And movement is what changes everything.

Ali Juma
@The Inner Game of Change podcast

Follow me on LinkedIn

Chapters

• 0:08 The 1967 Marathon Stand
• 0:44 Decision Means Nothing Without Action
• 0:56 Malala and the Pattern of Courage
• 1:27 A Question That Opens Change
• 2:13 Decision vs Action: Mind’s Trap
• 3:14 The Shadow Between Idea and Act
• 3:50 Quiet Progress and Follow-Through
• 4:26 Dopamine, Resolutions, and Momentum
• 4:59 Business Proofs: Bezos and Kodak
• 5:37 First and Second Steps Framework
• 5:58 Three Moves to Build Momentum
• 6:50 Your Decision, First Step, Second Step

Transcript

Ali: 0:08

It is 1967. A young woman, Katherine Switzer, lands up at the start of the Boston Marathon. Officially, women aren't allowed. It is believed their bodies can't handle the distance. But Switzer registers under her initials KV Switzer and she's determined to run anyway. Two miles in, race officials notice her. One lunges at her, tries to rip off her bib, shouting that she doesn't belong. The photos are famous now, arms grabbing, faces furious, and one runner shielding her as she pushes forward. She didn't stop, she finished. And in that act, she didn't just make history. She proved that the decision to change means nothing until you act on it. Decades later, in another part of the world, Mulala Yousuf Zay faced her own version of that moment. She had already decided that girls deserved education. But when extremists tried to silence her, she kept speaking, even after an attack that nearly ended her life. Different worlds, same pattern. Courage begins where decision ends in the moment you move. Welcome to a change question, a special mini-series from the Inner Game of Change podcast. In each short solo episode, I bring you one question worth sitting with, the kind that can spark both personal and professional shifts. Because statements close things down, questions open them up, they make us pause, reflect and sometimes see ourselves or our work differently. So here's today's question. I've made the decision, now how do I act on it? We've all been there, you know what you want to change, you've thought it through. Maybe you've even told others, and then comes the hardest part, moving from choice to motion. A decision by definition is a commitment of the mind, a moment where you cut off other possibilities. The word itself comes from the Latin deciduri, to cut away. In theory, it should feel freeing. In practice, thinking alone doesn't cut much. A decision without action is just potential, neatly packaged, perfectly still. The power of a decision lives in what follows, the act that confirms it. Without that, we are left holding intention, not change. That's what Shakespeare saw in Hamlet. The prince knew what he had to do, but reflection froze him, his mind trapped between decision and deed. He called it the native hue of resolution, sickly over the pale cast of thought. And that's our modern risk too. We confuse deciding with doing and wonder why nothing shifts. T S. Iliot wrote of the same limbo, between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act, falls the shadow. Every change lives or dies in that shadow, the gap between decision and act. And George Eliot reminds us that progress doesn't always announce itself with trumpets. The growing good of the world, she wrote, is partly dependent on an historic acts. Change is so often sustained not by allowed resolutions, but by quiet follow-through. Neuroscience adds its own footnote to this story. Our brains get a dopamine hit from deciding. It feels good, rewarding, complete. But the brain doesn't distinguish between decided and done. That's why New Year's resolutions fizzled. The decision gave us the chemical reward, but no movement followed. The bridge from decision to action is what feeds momentum, and momentum feeds change. Catherine Swiss decided to run, but it was the act of pinning on that bib and moving forward that changed everything. Malala had already decided to speak. Her power came from continuing to speak after the attack. In business, Jeff Bezos decided to launch the Kindle and acted by risking his own book sales. It was painful, but it turned Amazon from a bookstore into a tech company. And Kodak. They decided to explore digital photography but didn't act. Decision without motion became decline. I like to think of it this way. The first step is about courage. The second step is about commitment. The first step gets you moving. The second step makes it stick. Arana takes the first step to break inertia. The second locks in rhythm, telling the body we're already doing this. Without the second step, the first is just a stumble. So how do we move from decision to action? Three small moves that turn intent into motion. First, anchor the first step in something visible. Don't just decide in your head, write it, share it, sign up, schedule it, make it real. For example, if you decide to start learning how to use Copilot or ChatGPT in your daily work, that's the first move. The second move, you block one 20-minute slot each week to apply one new prompt on a real task. The first move opens the door, the second turns the handle. 2. Decide the second step before you take the first. If you act once without knowing how you will sustain it, Drift will swallow it up. Think of a manager who notices their team is stretched thin. The first move is deciding to model healthier boundaries. The second is visible, they stop sending late night emails. The single action builds trust faster than any speech could. The first step signals intention, the second builds belief. 3. Create feedback early. Find out quickly what works and what doesn't, so momentum doesn't fade. Because small steady feedback loops are how we transform courage into consistency. Decisions are the spark, but sparks alone don't light a fire. It is the act, the first step, and just as importantly the second that turns a choice into change. So my question for you is this What's one decision you've already made? What first step will you take to act on it? And just as importantly, what will your second step be to make sure it sticks? Because in the end, decisions without action are drift, but decisions with steps become movement, and movement is what changes everything. Until next time, I will leave you with that question.