The word balding does not get used as much today but hair loss is primarily a genetic trait which members of the same family suffer although there are other factors involved, it may take quite a while for science to find a genetic cure to the problem. The primary cause of balding in men and women is that it is a genetic trait passed down by their parents but baldness can be cause by other conditions. If other men in your family suffer with hair loss in specific places on the head then there is a very good change that you will too as these hormonal imbalances seem to have greater effect as the person’s age increases.

This is the real cause of hair loss and normally lies with hormonal problems and occurs when male or female hormones (androgens and estrogens) are out of balance. An imbalance of hormones is usually a genetic trait that as of yet, cannot be cured.

Male and female-pattern baldness is the most common form of hair loss and is caused by a hormone called DHT, a naturally occurring hormone that helps in sexual development but treatments are available. To control this problem there are shampoos like Rogaine and tablets that control the level of DHT in the hair follicles like Propecia. Of course hair replacement treatments like transplant surgery are generally successful as the hair from the areas where the DHT level is higher are replaced by hair from other areas of the head that are not as sensitive to the hormone.

Our hair actually stops growing for a couple of months or so during a 2 to 6 year cycle and around one tenth of our hair is in this state at any one time. It must be noted that hair loss is quite normal and hair can grow over 1 centimeter each month during the growing phase but there are people that, owing to other reasons, will lose more than this per month.

Many reasons for hair loss are circulated like wearing a hat, stress, sweat or even poor circulation but these are all untrue. While it is possible to lose hair through stress, this has to be extreme like that caused by torture for example and not everyday stress and generally, when this occurs, the condition is reversible.

Of course there are other situations where hair loss can occur like medical treatments that use chemotherapy, pills that control hormones, scalp infections, diseases like diabetes and even pills to control depression. A permanent solution to hair loss might take sometime and while many people wait anxiously for it, they will have to use what science has devised so far.

While reading a book a few weeks ago, I saw something very basic to the entire topic of self improvement. I understood so much more clearly why even though I have deep knowledge of this material, I have not been able to produce the results I desired in my life until now.

For years my focus has been on learning and understanding this information; not their twin sister – application. I have spent hours reading, studying and taking notes on these topics. Those hours moved me light years ahead mentally but they did nothing until now for my physical, daily environment. I have been so intent on getting my mind around these concepts that I failed to pay attention to the most crucial aspect of this process = personal action.

Throughout “Think and Grow Rich” Napoleon Hill gives his readers many action steps to complete and several daily tasks to perform. I always thought “I will read the entire book and then go back and DO what he suggests.” This was a HUGE mistake. Even if I was not in the right position, those action steps would have moved me closer to my dreams and would have begun the process of building up my self-esteem, self-confidence and my level of awareness of my innate ability to handle my big life goals. And, I incrementally would have been moving closer to what I desired, even if it was only a little bit at a time. I have since become an active student of the application of these concepts. It is only through action that I prepare the way and the method by which I can receive what I want in my life.

Please stop just reading about improving yourself and really think about whether you need to become an “active” student of “application” in your life. You learn the methods or the “certain way” only by doing, not by studying. Studying allows you to understand the process but to learn and internalize material you must act on all things that Napoleon Hill, Brian Tracy, Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Wallace Wattles and all the other personal growth authors tell you to do.

“Take the first step in faith and the rest will be revealed to you.” Wallace Wattles. Take is a verb. A verb requires action. Recently I came up with an idea to help law students. I did not have the product finished or know all the details of what I wanted to include in my product. I did not know the distribution method or how I would advertise the product. But, I took action. I called my mentor and booked an appointment with her to talk about my idea. As the month ticked down I worked on my presentation, read some more material and got more ideas.

When I finally went in to talk to her in person she loved my idea. I only showed her a short snapshot of the project and she ended up booking me to teach to over 70 students in a month and a half. All of this happened because I did not wait until everything was “perfect,” “complete,” “just right” or “totally finished.” I acted on my idea and my idea produced results. As I continue to take action on this project the next steps and new ideas keep coming to me. The project gets better and better and will help many people in the near future.

You can do this too. Stop waiting for the time to be right and just start working on your ideas. Without action nothing will happen. You will continue to pile up self-help books and seminar tickets and you will blame the books and speakers for not helping you. They are helping you; they are giving you the tools you need to move forward. Since they are not there to hold your hand when you act, you have to do it on your own. Remember small steps add up to big results. Last year I climbed Half Dome in Yosemite and I did it one step at a time. Sometimes it was hard, and sometimes it was fairly easy, but every step was important because it moved me closer to my goal.

While this may seem very elementary, taking action is crucial to your results and can delay or completely block your efforts if you do not pay attention to making things happen instead of just thinking about things happening. Like yin and yang: learning and application are two sides of the same coin.