Sometimes it is better to just get on with doing something rather than thinking and planning for too long.

Philip Humbert makes an interesting evaluation of the race for the South Pole by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott (Scott of the Antartic).

Scott spent days in planning and preparation for the trip whilst Amundsen set off quickly with far less preparation. Not only did Amundsen get to the South Pole first. He arrived back safely.

Scott reached the pole second and was hit by cold weather on his way back. He and his brave band of heroes died eleven miles from their home base. If Scott had set off earlier he might have missed the cold weather on the way back.

Another key factor was Amundsen's reliance on dogs for pulling his sledges; Scott did not use dogs.

I do not entirely agree with Philip Humbert's assessment since Amundsen had already done his preparation some time before his assault on the South Pole. On his successful trip to find the North West passage through the Arctic seas north of Canada some years before, he had spent over a year living with the Inuit.

They showed him important tips like how to coat the runners of his sledges with ice so that they would slide easily over the snow and help the dogs to make fast progress.

He learned on the job and not by reading and planning from a distance and he did prepare in the best way possible in the type of freezing cold environment he would later face in the Antarctic. He did his planning and preparation by learning from the experts who actually lived in a freezing environment.

However, planning and preparing for too long can allow negative thoughts to creep in. And negativity can kill off any project. Amundsen's crew were not at all happy with their long stay in Arctic conditions while Amundsen learned from the Inuit.

Sometimes action is king. You can always learn as you take action and create your own mistakes and successes. Eva Young sums up this point cleverly:

"To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing."

Another succinct comment on the same point comes from a minister called Vance Havner:

"The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - We must step up the stairs."

If we spend too much time thinking about our potential we may never turn that potential into reality. Fear often makes us pause and cogitate for too long before taking action.

Michael Dell of Dell computers puts his success down to the fact that he was not afraid of making mistakes.

He did not wait for perfection before he took action to produce and sell his computers. He took far more action than most people and made more mistakes than most but he learned from the mistakes and corrected things as he went along.

If we are following a how to do it manual, it is probably better to read a bit and then put that bit into action before going on to the next bit. Few people can read a manual straight through and, if they do, become so bored or overwhelmed with information that they lose their focus and enthusiasm for implementing it.

In life we can both think and do. Most of us spend too much time thinking instead of doing.

Instead of thinking too much, let's do some preparation and planning and then just get going and take action. We need to step up the ladder to success and not just look at it.

John Watson

John Watson was born in Shanghai at the start of World War II on Dec 31st 1939

His father, a British civil engineer, was given the choice of working in the mines of Northern China for the occupying forces or going to a concentration camp. He refused to work for the invading forces.

As a result the whole family were imprisoned in a concentration camp in the middle of China in 1942. Eric Liddell (featured in the Chariots of Fire) the Scottish runner and missionary was imprisoned in the same camp.

In 1945 the family was rescued by American troops who were parachuted in. John's most treasured possession from this time is a plane made of bullets given him by one of the US soldiers. The tail parts have been lost but most of it remains. He also remembers being given a bottle of coca cola by one of the US troops and has been an addict ever since!

They moved to England and then, when John's father died, to the Isle of Man.

John went to school in the Isle of Man and then taught Physical Education at a prep school in Hertfordshire. Around this time he had three mystical experiences of contact with God.

He then studied English Literature at Cambridge University and later became an English teacher in South East London but, after 5 years, he did a diploma in Religious Studies and began teaching about religion full time.

After 33 years teaching in three London Comprehensive schools, John retired from teaching. He received several awards and commendations for teaching both religious studies and the martial arts. He still teaches martial arts after beginning training in karate at the age of 37. The style he now teaches is Choikwangdo, a brilliant self-defence and health oriented style founded by Grandmaster Kwang Jo Choi in 1987.

In his retirement he began studying internet marketing and continued his study of the psychology of achievement and self development. This has always been a key interest.

John plans on writing reports and books on both teaching and on achievement in general. He feels that many schools let their students down by not teaching enough about how to study (by using mind maps for example) and about how to set goals and how to start saving money for their early retirement!

John's main aim is to make the most of his own potential and to help others make the most of their's. He also wishes to pass on whatever he knows of the meaning of life and to discover more and share more about the truths behind the universe.