The Gap Between Knowing and Acting {Ep 221}

You can be completely clear on what to do next and still not do it. That’s not a character flaw, and it’s not a sign you need more information. It’s the gap between knowing and acting and it’s where momentum gets built or quietly lost in business and in life.

I dig into why clarity isn’t the thing that creates movement. Clarity gives direction, but decision is what moves you forward. When you’re hesitating, it often isn’t loud fear. It’s subtle delay that’s easy to justify. Tweaking the details, waiting to feel “ready,” or staying busy with planning that looks productive on the surface. I will name that quiet resistance for what it is, and talk about how perfectionism can keep you safe while keeping you stuck.

I also share a personal moment that still makes me feel compassion for my past self. The first time I went live on Facebook. Taking that step made everything real. It brought visibility, responsibility, and the possibility of getting it wrong and that’s exactly why the mind tries to avoid it. But momentum doesn’t come from big dramatic leaps. It comes from consistent follow-through on what you already know, even when the action is imperfect.

If you’re ready to close the gap, press play, then take one honest step today. Subscribe for more Tuesday Talks, share this with a friend who’s been “preparing,” and leave a review telling me what action are you choosing to take next?

Hello and Welcome to The Aligned Path with Darleen
My name is Darleen and I support business women to have a Heartfelt Connection to their Business through working with their intuition.

You love your business as it has all started coming together and now you understand that Mindset, Spirituality and Intuition are just as important as the logical parts of business. When you work with your intuition in business you can make sound business decisions that you have confidence in; become more confident in yourself as a business woman; and have the ability to say no to things and people that are not aligned.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Hi everyone and welcome to Tuesday Talks with Darlene. This episode is called The Gap Between Knowing and Acting. And I would love for you to like, subscribe, share, comment, all that amazing stuff that gets the message out there. Now, why, you know, like you know exactly what to do and still not do it. Why does this actually happen? And that's the part that can actually frustrate a lot of people. Again, you know, like I've had it actually happen where I know what I need to do, yet I don't actually do it. And it's really interesting. It's not confusion anymore. That's the thing, it's not confusion

Welcome And The Action Gap

SPEAKER_01 1:27

anymore. And it's not a lack of clarity. You've already had the insight, the nudges, the ideas, and yet you're still sitting in that same place. You're not taking action. Now, today I want to talk about the gap between knowing what to do and the actual acting. So doing what you need to do. Because that gap is where momentum is either built or quietly lost. And yes, momentum can be lost. Now, our clarity doesn't create movement, decision does. Clarity is fantastic. We need that clarity. Yet making those decisions is what's going to move you forward. Because you assume that once you're clear, the action should just naturally follow. But that's not actually how it works in practice. Clarity gives you the direction, it doesn't move you forward. Let me say that again. Clarity gives you direction, it doesn't move you forward. That's a big one, isn't it? Just take a nice breath for me. Because that may have hit really hard for some people.

Clarity Does Not Create Movement

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Now remember, there is always a movement when you have to decide to act on what you already know. And that moment requires something different to thinking or understanding. Remember, there's a moment that you decide you need to act. You've got the clarity, and then you know you need to act. Why don't you though? Because that moment is where hesitation often creeps in. Not because you're confused, but because taking action makes it real, visible, and something you can no longer avoid. When I first started doing videos quite a few years ago now, and I'm really glad that I did actually take that action, I needed to make a decision to create a video. And the first video I did was a live Facebook video. Now I look back and I have so much compassion for that person because there was so there was so much doubt. There was so like I wasn't animated, I wasn't excited. And you can hear it in me that I'm really calm today, I'm really clear, I'm not getting overexcited as I do in some episodes, because this one I felt needed much more heart, it needed a lot more compassion because we're talking about taking action in your business, and this action will make you visible, and that can be so scary, it can be really scary. So recognizing this changes the problem from I need more clarity to I need to decide, and we don't want to make so many decisions and we end up with the decision fatigue. It's one decision at a time, it's not 20 at once. So if it's not clarity that's missing, then something else is sitting in that space. Because that gap is usually filled with quiet resistance, and that doesn't show up as loud fear or obvious avoidance, it shows up as subtle delay, the kind that's easy

Quiet Resistance And Subtle Delay

SPEAKER_01 5:17

to justify and easy to miss. Let me repeat that again. It shows up as subtle delay. You delay the decisions. Think about what you do in your personal life. Do you delay decisions? Does that actually go over into your business? Are you delaying decisions that you need to make to move your business forward? I'm not here to make you feel bad or anything. That's not my job because I don't think it's right. I think it's unfair. I'm here to give you awareness. Telling yourself that you'll start tomorrow, tweaking things that don't actually matter. What that perfectionism. Oh no, you know, I just need this color here, or I need to do this with this graphic, or I need this, or I need that. No. No. You might even wait until you feel more ready so that you can actually look productive on the surface, but underneath it's hesitation. And I've done that so many times in business. I've done all of the things, you know, it's like it's like you're a duck on water, but underneath your feet are going. And you what's what's happening in your business? Are you actually moving forward or not? And that kind of resistance is consistent rather than dramatic, and that's exactly why it keeps people stuck for longer than they realize. That's why I said I'm not here to show you, I'm here as awareness. And many people don't recognize this as resistance because it doesn't feel like they're actually avoiding anything, it feels like they're actually preparing. And it's great, we need to prepare, but if that's all you're doing, then what is actually happening? Nothing. And that's where most people don't even realize what they're actually doing. Be aware that you're not stuck, you're never stuck. I don't really like that word at all. You're actually delaying the moment of commitment. Because action requires a level of commitment that thinking doesn't. Because once you act, you're in, you've made it real. And man, does that feel scary? You're making this business real. You're telling people that you're in business, that you have a service or product, you're selling it. Isn't that real? And isn't that scary? It's okay. Being scary is something that we all feel, and it's beautiful because it can help us take action. Now, with this, with making it all real, comes responsibility, visibility, and the possibility that it might not go perfectly.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Wow. Whoa, hang on, it might not go perfectly. So what?

SPEAKER_01 8:30

So what? Do you know there's people out there that want to do what you're doing,

Visibility Fear And Real Commitment

SPEAKER_01 8:35

but they're too scared to. They're too scared to even start while they still have a job. They might be too scared to leave a job. You've done that, you've done all that, and you started a business. This is it's scary, it really is. And all of this responsibility and visibility and all that, this is exactly what the mind is trying to avoid. Because if it does that, wow, what happens? And instead, it keeps you in the loop of knowing, planning, and thinking, because that space feels safer than actually moving forward. This creates a false sense of progress. You feel like you're doing something when in reality nothing is changing. Does it hit heart? If it does, please just put your hand on your heart and take another deep breath. Because you might think that you're doing heaps, and as I said, it's like a duck on water, it's so smooth, but underneath is all that scrambling. Now, over time, all of this starts to have an impact. Because every delay weakens that momentum. Momentum isn't built through big dramatic actions, you know, getting out there and making these amazing videos, going, look at me, I've made 100 key months. No, that is not you. The momentum isn't built through big dramatic actions, it's built through consistent follow-through on what you already know to do. When you repeatedly don't act on your own awareness, you start to lose

Momentum Loss And Self Trust

SPEAKER_01 10:33

trust in your direction. Not because you're incapable, but because you're not responding to yourself. The longer this gap stays open, the heavier it feels to move. Because inaction starts to build its own pattern. This is where things begin to feel harder than they actually are. We're making it harder. Not because the action is difficult, but because the delay has been compounded. When you don't take action, it builds and builds and builds and builds. Because momentum comes from moving sooner and thinking and not thinking more. So you want to move sooner and not think a lot less. You don't need more clarity. You've already got all the clarity you need. You need a smaller gap between knowing and doing, even if the action feels simple or incomplete. Because guess what? It's not incomplete. And it's not simple because every single action takes you forward. As I've been saying, everything takes you forward. Acting before your foot feel fully ready, taking one step instead of planning ten. And allowing the action to be imperfect. All of this helps to close that gap.

Imperfect Steps That Close The Gap

SPEAKER_01 12:03

Momentum isn't created in the big leap, it's created in that first honest step that follows awareness. This is why I'm doing this episode because I want you to have that awareness. And the gap between knowing and acting is where most people will stay. As I've said, people they know what they want to do. They might want to leave a job, they might want to start a business, and they don't. This doesn't have to be where you stay, though. The shift isn't about becoming more certain, it's about becoming more responsive. Have the clarity, have the plan, take the action. I really want you to take that action. Because when you start to close the gap between what you know and what you do, everything changes. And I mean every single thing changes. If I hadn't done that first Facebook Live, I wouldn't be in the fifth season of my podcast. I took the I knew what needed to do, and I took the action. And this is where you stop questioning yourself as much. And you start building something real, not just in your business, but in the way you trust yourself to move. Because at the end of the day, it's not what you know that creates results, it's what you're willing to act on. Thank you so much for watching and listening to this episode. As I said, this was an episode where I didn't need the enthusiasm. I didn't need, like, I've got enthusiasm, but I didn't need to be over the top. I wanted it to come really from the heart because there are many people out there, as I've said, that have all the plans and they don't take the action. Thank you again for watching and listening, and I'll see you on the next video.