During my New Zealand trip, my friend pointed out that I should THINK LESS & DO MORE.
I think about stuff a lot, which is both a strength and a weakness. The bright side is to be introspective and do things with intention. The dark side is to overthink unnecessary things and dwell on trivial matters. This led to indecisions on what to do, what to eat, or what to buy.
The solution to this decision paralysis + perfectionism + optimization mindset bundle could very well be having “a bias for action.” Instead of being in unproductive thinking loops, taking an action unlocks insights and gets you unstuck.
bias for action
This is one of Amazon’s core leadership principles, and something I saw almost too frequently last summer:
Bias for Action: Speed matters in business. Many decisions and actions are reversible and do not need extensive study. We value calculated risk taking.
The mindset applies both professionally and personally. This is a good reminder to optimize for action so we can find more information. Action is better than inaction.
decide if a decision is a one-way door or two-way door
One-way doors are irreversible decisions. Once it’s made, you can’t go back. For example, promising your customer something. If you don’t end up delivering, you’d destroy the customer's trust.
On the other hand, two-way doors are reversible decisions. You can reopen and go back through the door if things didn't go as expected.
When making a decision, optimize for speed if it's a two-way door! And tread carefully when it’s a one-way door!
taking consistent actions
“Learn deliberately and create consistently” was my 2022 goal. It’s vague but did provide me with a general direction. I even confidently wrote about ways of how I’m going to implement it. After a year, I’d say I only met 50% of the goal and fell into the trap of over-optimization. I realized:
Things are easier said than done. Execution is harder than ideation.
For the first half of 2023, I’m focusing on one thing— consistency. Showing up despite perfectionism or procrastination. I am committed to shipping at least one article every week, despite how not “ready” the ideas are. It’s simple, but not easy.
Love this, Andy.
As a fellow over-thinker, I feel you on this struggle. Wishing you luck on striving to take more action over thinking. Perhaps we need an over-thinkers support group lolol