Business is logical. Business is factual. Business is about weighing the options and making the smartest choice. Right?

By now, you know that any advice I offer is counter-intuitive.  Yes. Business is not about touchy-feely emotional stuff. But I believe that so many people have become so good at reasoning with themselves, that they take themselves out of the game. Not just in business but in life in general.

Do you ever notice that when you reason something out, you are arguing the case for both for and against. We predict outcomes based solely on our own thoughts, which are not necessarily indicative of reality – they are just our thoughts and opinions. But both sides of the argument are in our own brain – evenly matched. And both are made up by us. We just imagine that we are arguing another side of the coin. One brain, one coin. When 2 sides are evenly matched, what we have is a (vicious) circle, not linear or successful thinking.

So what I am suggesting is this: stop being so reasonable. By being unreasonable, I am being very specific. I do not mean that you should be difficult, whiny or annoying. What I am saying is this: many opportunities are lost forever by calling our doubts, fears and circular thinking reasonable objections. Take an unreasonable risk! A cliche is a cliche because it is said so often – If you risk nothing, you will never gain anything.

I know that at this point, many of you are telling yourselves that this doesn’t apply to you. You’re strong, you’re confident, your spontaneous… so tell me, can you relate to any of these:

• You are inspired about a great idea, and you tell yourself “I’ll do it one day”, reasoning that now is not the right time.
• You want to do something exciting with your partner, but you know that they will hate the idea so you don’t bother mentioning it.
• You want a raise, and you don’t ask because its not time for your review yet.
• You have a fantastic idea that you know your boss will veto, but his boss will love. You know that this will be successful and add value, but you decide not to go over your boss’ head in case you upset the apple cart.
• You want to start a business, but you can’t see that it would be a success or how you would manage it with all the other things going on in your life. Its a great idea, a sure success, but maybe its just an idea – and you do nothing.
• Your prospect tells you that they are totally uninterested in the product you are selling before you tell them about it, and you walk away without explaining it to them. You assume that they won’t be interested after hearing about it.
• You have a burning desire to do something, but you haven’t had the time because there are other things that are more important.

We take pride in being reasonable people. We think about situations, and pre-decide what others will think and say. We assume that we can accurately predict how others will react because we “know” them. We rationalize why we can’t do what we want to do, and why it’s not a good idea. We don’t take big risks because we assume we know the end-result, so we don’t even try. If it was that easy, 1800-psychic wouldn’t be in business. And the longer we know people or are stuck in a specific situation, the worse this condition becomes.

I guarantee if you drop your reasoned-out preconceived ideas about others’ reactions or outcomes, you will get extraordinary results. After all, we cannot assume that we ever know the operation of someone else’s mind or of the universe.

Where are you procrastinating? What reasons have you been giving yourself to not take the next step? Where have you not approached or spoken to someone about an idea because you thought they wouldn’t receive it well? Where are you stuck because of fear and doubt?

Do you want to make a difference in your life? Do you really want happiness and success? If you do, then I have a challenge for you. I challenge you for 1 week to be TOTALLY UNREASONABLE.  For the length of one full week, take 7 unreasonable actions – one a day. The more unreasonable the better. Be willing to be vulnerable and afraid. Contact that celebrity / icon you have always admired. Jump on the action train and start your new business… Stretch yourself. The more fear and doubt you feel, the better. Ignore your reasons and just act. There might be some failures, but you will have some stunning and surprising outcomes. So go ahead. Be Unreasonable! I guarantee immediate results, and can’t wait to hear about your successess.