When you think about pursuing and working towards completing your ambitions, how do you balance input and output?
How would you rate the relationship between the phase of needing to acquire the necessary information in order to perform any given task at a reasonable quality, to then actually executing that task? Sometimes we think we need to obtain more information and resources in order to be prepared to accomplish the tasks in front of us. But how do you know that you have enough information in order to start? When do you actually perform? At what point do you act and produce forward movement rather than feel that you need to acquire more knowledge first?
I believe it’s not necessarily that you need more information but rather need to focus on taking action and producing results with the capacity and capabilities you have at the current moment. We can generally agree that it takes the most effort to get started but how can you assess that you have the minimum viable amount of knowledge and information needed to in fact start? We can always acquire information along the way; it’s action that will get us closer to our end goal and faster.
Like our stomachs, our minds are hurt more often by overeating than by hunger. -Petrarch
When we plan to work towards any particular goal, and are motivated to achieve it, we often like to be prepared so we can maximize the likelihood of our success. Have you ever found yourself hesitant to transition from the preparation and learning phase to the execution phase? How do we gauge the point at which we have ample amount of information needed to successfully start that most important second step?
If we identify any successful professional who started a business or accomplished a significant ambition, we often assume they were thoroughly prepared and knowledgeable prior to getting started. Perhaps they had direct experience, lots of time and money, education and credentials, supportive teams, or other advantages to deploy before their journey. We feel certain that they were already experts prior to any decisions they made about that achievement. These assumptions can work against us as we portray a perspective that those individuals had resources that we ourselves do not. This mindset then limits our confidence that we would be able to accomplish any meaningful endeavor that is beyond our current capability. What if the most important aspect of any new accomplishment isn’t necessarily information or preparation, but rather action and momentum?
In today’s data-driven world where information is the next valuable resource that everyone is leveraging and is so readily obtainable, we can easily fall into the mindset that we simply seek out the answers to whatever we need. This, however, conditions us to feel that all we need to do is find those answers and we’ll be able to accomplish whatever task we set forth. This is only half of the equation, because we still need to apply that information and execute the task. Not just know what to do, but actually do it. We tend to spend more energy than needed on searching for and obtaining that knowledge rather than spending that valuable time on performing and working towards actually achieving that task. What if instead of spending time listening to more podcasts, reading more books, taking more courses, doing more research, or speaking to more people, we spent time just getting started with our endeavor and learning as we go? There needs to be a better balance between inputting resources and outputting results. If we are trying to get ahead, we need to execute.
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. -Leonardo da Vinci
So how do we actually get forward movement without feeling we need to continue to acquire knowledge before getting started? There needs to be a necessary component of action and experimenting, we can only learn and prepare so much but we can readjust as we go. Real world feedback will refine your focus faster and more accurately than endless theorizing or hypothesizing ever could. Building specific time for the learning process, knowing that mistakes will be made but valuable lessons as well, will allow you to make faster and more accurate progress. Once you get working towards your goals, you prove that you can in fact make progress and this builds your confidence which compounds as you continue. You see yourself gaining experience, knowledge, and skills.
Keep in mind that there is no failure, only feedback, so you can successfully make progress despite feeling that you were not fully adequately prepared. When reflecting on any of those individuals who did accomplish significant achievements, you will find that the one factor they usually have in common is that they simply started their journey regardless of being fully prepared and knowledgeable. They focused more on action and learning along the way and adjusting as they gathered that knowledge through trial and error. We can’t be fully prepared for any endeavor, so we might as well spend the time and energy on making progress on what we can influence and improve the quality of results after we have some momentum.
A significant challenge many of us face is the real hesitation to take the first steps in applying what we know and start the journey. Whether we call it decision fatigue, analysis paralysis, or perfection procrastination, we aim to be so fully prepared, but we never actually get started. To avoid feeling stuck, we need to find action in order to move the needle. Having so much creativity and so many ideas without structure or the ability to plan and execute will have you continuing to brainstorm as valuable time ticks by. What would be a relevant system you can apply to take the most viable ideas and put them into action and manifest them? Nothing changes if nothing changes, and things won’t just magically happen or appear. Achievements are built through planning, action, consistency, and follow through.
When engaging in learning new skills, acquiring knowledge, or increasing performance, there are no shortcuts. There are of course methods and strategies to increase efficiency, however putting in the necessary time and effort are still mandatory. Don’t waste time and energy hoping for something to happen or for the perfect moment, focus on what you can control and start making progress towards your objectives and refine as you go.
One strategy that can help get you moving forward is to consider your perspective when thinking about your progress and looking at it in hindsight. If you were to project ahead and envision having already completed your task, what were the actions and decisions you made along the way? How did one action lead to another and ultimately enable you to achieve that goal? If you look at the progress you have made and reflect back on how everything fell into place, how are you setting yourself up for that success now? What is most likely to happen if you continue the patterns that led you to where you are today? How can you adjust your approach now to produce the results you want in the future?
Another challenge we usually face in this day and age is expecting immediate results and not giving ample time for any process to fully mature. Do you feel that you have to pursue the latest and greatest new popular trend? How often are you moving onto the next idea? The more you stop working on what is currently important to you and pivot yourself, you risk losing the progress and potential opportunity you were aiming for in the first place. What then, happens to those original initiatives? Over the course of a year what do you actually accomplish other than constant distraction?
Consider these questions:
What are you actually intending to accomplish in achieving your goals?
What is your purpose and ultimate mission you are seeking?
What truly resonates with you when you envision yourself achieving that ambition?
Knowing your intentions prior to starting your journey can help empower you to influence your choices and behaviors and make the changes you need to be successful.
With all the various influences and processes throughout our lives, many systems and external factors dictate our experiences and how we navigate day to day. Both in the immediate and over the course of our careers, relationships, and overall existence. So, what can we do to better tilt the scale in our favor to best succeed? What are the actual aspects in our control that we can manipulate, rather than simply being a victim of larger influences that dictate our experiences to us? We are able to better manage our mindset, actions, attitudes, and how we react and respond to our situations.
Perhaps we seek out the wrong resources prior to achieving our goals. Instead of spending time and effort on information and knowledge to best inform our decisions and actions, what if we spent that energy on seeking ways to increase our determination, grit, and tenacity. Building habits of resiliency and consistency can pay dividends that last beyond just the one isolated goal and can apply to how we approach all goals and ambitions. Developing these internal systems and behaviors are vital to our success because most of the time we are alone on our journeys. Having community and being resilient to your own emotions and stresses is important. Burnout can be caused not only by an imbalance in workload but also by misalignment and losing purpose. If we spend too much time on things that are not aligned with our values or true purpose, we risk losing interest.
"Don't expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen. You won't be. Don't count on motivation. Count on discipline." Jocko Willink
As I reflect on my own relationship with input and output, I remember the times when I would have self-doubt and fear about pursuing the dreams I had. I would often look at other’s successes and achievements and would feel a deep sense of inadequacy, telling myself that they must have experiences and resources that I didn’t, and they were primed for victory, and I was destined to struggle. However, I also realized that I wasn’t necessarily doing anything in particular to achieve the goals that I wanted to. I would complain but sit on the sidelines while those other professionals didn’t make excuses and simply acted regardless of their current qualifications. Why would I expect to have their level of success when they have been working diligently towards it, and I have just been wallowing in my emotions? So, I started to ask myself what can I do to replicate that success? I realized successful people really aren’t that different and they didn’t have any innate skills or abilities. They just had consistent habits and actions applied over time; all I had to do was to stop hoping for something to happen and stop wasting my time and just get down to start doing it.
Time goes by quickly and before you know it, we’re making progress. This supports the foundation that output and action are more effective for achieving one’s goals than endless input and seeking enough knowledge.
As Rumi famously said, “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”
The key is to just start walking.