Summary5 min read

TheUPside Podcast

Episode: The Flywheel Effect: How Small Consistent Actions Build Unstoppable Momentum
Host: Theresa Flood
Date: July 14, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode of TheUPside Podcast, host Theresa Flood explores the transformative power of consistent, small actions. She challenges the common misconception that more learning equates to progress, emphasizing instead the crucial importance of implementation. Theresa introduces the concept of the "flywheel effect"—where momentum builds slowly through repeated, purposeful actions—and shares practical strategies for bridging the gap between intention and real, meaningful progress in life and business.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Real Gap: Action, Not Knowledge

The biggest obstacle to achieving goals is not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of consistent action.
Theresa: “We do not have a knowledge gap, we have an action gap.” (00:29)
Many people confuse consuming information with making progress. True change happens only when knowledge is put into practice.

2. The Trap of Passive Learning

Theresa uses her love of true crime as a humorous analogy:
- Despite consuming endless detective books and shows, she acknowledges she’s never actually acted on it—and therefore isn’t qualified to be a private investigator or attorney.
- Theresa: “Nobody, not one single soul... is going to hire me to be their private investigator... Why? Because I have never taken action on any of this. I am a sideline quarterback.” (03:16)
The parallel for the audience: consuming content alone doesn’t create skill or results—action is essential.

3. You Learn by Doing

“Learning and doing are a two sided coin, meaning you don't truly learn something until you get into action and do it.” (02:04)
Without taking a first step, you’re simply an “armchair expert.”
Touches on the critical importance of practice and “reps” over simply studying or preparing.

4. The GPS Analogy: Just Take the Next Step

Theresa compares progress to using GPS—often, you only see the next step, not the entire route.
Encourages listeners to focus on the “next right step” instead of paralyzing themselves worrying about the whole journey.
Theresa: “So much of life is like a gps. You just need to take the next action that you know.” (05:07)

5. Imperfect Action is Better Than Perfect Inaction

She shares and emphasizes:
- Theresa: “Imperfect action beats perfect inaction.” (06:09)
Many are paralyzed waiting for the perfect moment or perfect plan, but waiting keeps them stuck.

6. The Flywheel Effect

Cites Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” and the metaphor of the flywheel:
- Initial efforts yield no apparent progress, but repeated pushes eventually generate unstoppable momentum.
- Theresa: “We oftentimes believe that our breakthrough is going to come because of one massive action... but we didn’t look at all the tiny little pushes that happened over and over and over.” (07:05)
Stresses how breakthroughs are built from small, consistent actions, not sudden heroic sprints.

7. Action Creates Confidence

Debunks the myth that you need confidence to take action; instead, courageous and consistent action builds confidence.
Theresa: “Confidence comes after being courageous in something. When you add in the consistency… and then you add the competency of learning, that will create the confidence. Action creates confidence over time.” (09:16)
Inaction not only results from fear, it also breeds more fear.

8. A Practical Challenge and Call to Action

Listeners are challenged to reflect:
- “What knowledge are you full of that you haven't acted upon? What do you know to do that you are not doing?” (11:09)
Recommends using her weekly Upside Training Guide as an actionable resource for bridging the gap between learning and doing.
Theresa: “An inch of action will take you closer to your goals than a mile of intention.” (13:25)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Action Gap:
- “We do not have a knowledge gap, we have an action gap.” (00:29)
On Passive Learning:
- “I have all my hot sports opinions around all of it, and yet I have never actually done anything. So I’m completely worthless when it comes to this. It is purely just a hobby.” (03:34)
On Learning by Doing:
- “You have to do to learn. You have to take action.” (04:00)
On the Illusion of ‘Perfect’:
- “Imperfect action beats perfect inaction.” (06:09)
- “It doesn’t get good until we try. Doesn’t get good until we get the reps in.” (06:44)
On Building Momentum:
- “It feels like it was one massive action, but we didn’t look at all the tiny little pushes that happened over and over and over.” (07:20)
On Courage and Confidence:
- “Confidence comes after being courageous in something. When you add in the consistency… and then you add the competency of learning, that will create the confidence. Action creates confidence over time.” (09:16)
On Taking the First Step:
- “What are you going to do today? What small, consistent steps are you going to make every single day that are going to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be?” (13:07)

Important Segment Timestamps

00:29 — Action gap vs. knowledge gap
02:04 — Learning vs. doing; personal anecdote
04:00 — Realization: learning doesn’t count without action
05:07 — GPS analogy: just take the next step
06:09 — Imperfect action versus perfect inaction
07:05 — The flywheel effect explained
09:16 — The truth about confidence and courage
11:09 — Listener challenge: What are you not acting on?
13:25 — Final wisdom: “An inch of action…”

Tone & Style

Theresa’s delivery is energetic, motivating, and candid, often using humor (her “crime junkie” confession) and relatable examples. She speaks directly to listeners’ common struggles with productivity and change, encouraging courage over perfection and small, actionable steps instead of endless preparation.

Summary Takeaways

Progress is made not by knowing more, but by doing more with what you know.
Don’t wait for the full map; just start with the next right action.
Breakthroughs are built through countless, small, consistent efforts—these are the “pushes” that power the flywheel.
Confidence is a product of courage, consistency, and competence gained through action.
Start today: even the smallest action is more powerful than the grandest intention.

Connect: For the weekly Upside Training Guide and actionable worksheets, visit teresafled.com

Quote to Remember:
“An inch of action will take you closer to your goals than a mile of intention.” (13:25)

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Transcript1 lines

[00:01]
A
Ready, set, go. Today we are talking about getting into action. Welcome to the Upside podcast, where we help you get unstuck in life and business by elevating your thinking and provoking meaningful change from the inside out. I'm your host, Teresa Flood. Thank you for joining me today. The biggest gap between where you're at and where you want to be is not in what you know. It is in what we implement every single day. We do not have a knowledge gap, we have an action gap. And so many times we confuse learning with progress. And you are listening to this podcast because you're a learning based person. Otherwise you'd be listening or doing something else. But you're a learning based person. I am too. And one of the things that we can oftentimes get in the trap of is going to all of the classes, reading all the books, listening to all of the messages and, and never implementing and never taking action. We just get so consumed, so stuffed, so full of information, and yet we're caught in paralysis. And we feel good about ourselves, we feel good about what we're learning, and yet the results don't change. The gap is still there because we're not getting into action. So the answer isn't always in learning more. It's on acting on what you already know. So I want to give you an example, case in point, about the importance of action when it comes to learning. Because the truth is, is that learning and doing are a two sided coin, meaning you don't truly learn something until you get into action and do it. So if you don't know this about me, I'm a crime junkie. Not as in I like to go out there and commit crimes. More like I like to read about them. I love a great murder mystery, whether it's watching a show or reading a book or listening to a Dateline podcast. I do have the premium edition so I can skip the ads. That is how much I am a crime junk monkey. And I started, I think, getting into this as a young child because one of the very first book series that I got into as a elementary school kid was Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. So if you were in the 80s growing up, you probably were a Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys fan. And so that really began my love of true crime. And so all throughout the years that I started listening to or watching Matlock and Perry Mason, which, if you are younger than me, you may not know these things, but again, defense attorneys who would, in the very last moment when their defendant is about to go to prison would Uncover the real culprit at the defense table. Right. It was very dramatic. So I thought, I want to be a defense attorney. And all throughout my life, I have loved pretty much all of the detective shows, all of the detective books, all of the datelines. Enough. Case in point on that. Here's the truth. Nobody, not one single soul, nobody, not you, not me, not my kids, not my mother, not my husband, nobody is going to hire me to be their private investigator. Nobody is going to hire me to be their defense attorney. Nobody. Why? Because I have never taken action on any of this. I am a sideline quarterback. I watched all the stuff, I've listened to all the stuff, I have all my hot sports opinions around all of it, and yet I have never actually done anything. So I'm completely worthless when it comes to this. It is purely just a hobby. Learning is the same way, right? You have to do to learn. You have to take action. We're not going to be very excited if we go to have open heart surgery. We ask our surgeon, how many surgery surgeries have you performed? And he said, you are my first live specimen. Yeah, that's not really going to go over well. We have to learn and we have to do at the same time. I want you to think about your GPS when you're putting in directions. Oftentimes we don't take action because we don't know all of the steps. Your gps, though, when you put in that you want to go to 123 Main street, it doesn't tell you all of the steps. It just tells you your next left turn. Then it tells you your next right turn. Sometimes I go, I kind of want to, like, see the big picture here. I want to know. And you can go do that obviously in your, in your app. But so much of life is like a gps. You just need to take the next action that you know. Don't try to know the entire roadmap or the entire plan by taking action, by making movement that positions you to be ready to see the next course of action. I love this quote. Perf. Imperfect action beats perfect in action. Let me say that again because I kind of stumbled. Imperfect action beats perfect in action. And I suppose that all in action could be considered perfect because you can easily do that perfectly. And yet action. A lot of times we get into paralysis. We don't want to do it unless we feel ready. We don't want to get into action unless we think it's going to be perfect. And the truth is, is it doesn't get good until we try. Doesn't get good until we get the reps in. It doesn't get good until we practice. We have to get into action to be able to learn. Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great talks about the power of a flywheel. And a flywheel really is an energy conductor. And what happens with the flywheel is if you go push it to try to get it into momentum, into energy creation, you push it and nothing happens. 2nd push, nothing happens. 3rd push, nothing happens. 4th push, nothing happens. 5th push, nothing happens. 6. Put. Eventually it starts to move just a little bit, and then all of a sudden you continue pushing and momentum starts to build. We oftentimes believe that our breakthrough is going to come because of one massive action. That's rarely ever the case. It feels like it was one massive action, but we didn't look at all the tiny little pushes that happened over and over and over. The consistent small actions that happened over time eventually created the momentum. So action is all about creating the momentum, and it's small actions over time that matter. So when you're learning, you've got to be doing. You've got to be doing the small actions that are going to create the momentum that are going to get you to the results. The other lie that we buy into so many times is that action follows confidence, meaning once I'm confident, then I will get into action, then I will do it. But first I gotta work on my confidence. It just doesn't work that way. There's a previous episode that I recorded about how we get to confidence, and it always starts with courage. Every single time. Confidence comes after being courageous in something. When you add in the consistency, which is just commitment on display, and then you add the competency of learning, that will create the confidence. Action creates confidence over time. It's courageous action, it's consistent action. It's learning and doing simultaneously that's going to create confidence for you. Inaction always creates fear. Why do we so many times feel paralyzed when we're fearful? Because inaction, not only is it a result of fear, but oftentimes it creates the fear. If you will just get into action, you watch the fear step away. So here's my challenge for you today. What knowledge are you full of that you haven't acted upon? What do you know to do that you are not doing? One of the reasons that we create a upside training guide every single week. If you don't know that this exists, every Thursday, I'll send you an email with a downloadable teaching guide. And this is a reflection worksheet. You can use it to teach the teams that you're leading. You can use it for your own personal reflection. And the reason that we create that, though, is so that you can take action on the things that you're learning. It takes time, it takes purposefulness to do that. But when you do that, it's going to compound your accelerated results every single time. So I'm going to encourage you. You probably already know what you need to do. You have enough knowledge to change your trajectory. You have enough knowledge to change your results. So what are you going to do today? What action are you going to take today? What small, consistent steps are you going to make every single day that are going to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be? An inch of action will take you closer to your goals than a mile of intention. So instead of just having great intentions, let's be people that take courageous action. Be sure you're subscribed@teresafled.com and we'll get you that training guide this week. And as always, thank you so much for listening. I'm so grateful that you hung with me that you stuck around for this. I hope it's making a difference in your life and your business. And as always, when you're investing in your growth every single day, it is going to yield you great returns. Be encouraged, my friends, and as always, keep living on the upside. We'll see you next week.