Two of my reporters came to me last week with an idea for Stry.us: We should use our Twitter feed to curate a bucket list of Springfield-related things, and then cross those things off as the summer goes on. It’d be a way to engage our audience and to learn more about our new city.
Great! I said. Let’s do it.
And wonderfully, my reporters didn’t freak out at this. They didn’t say, Hey, shouldn’t we talk about this some more? Shouldn’t we have another couple of meetings or something?
I hate meetings. And I hate overthinking, which is pretty much the in-your-head equivalent of a meeting. I hate any unproductive time spent thinking and debating instead of building or creating or doing.
There is certainly a time for contemplation, and there is a time for thought.
But I’d argue that the best time to think about action is after you’ve already started doing. Discussion about action that’s already happened/happening is so much more productive, because once the action begins, you start to learn what truly works.
Action leads to practical solutions. Discussion often merely leads to theory.
I’d take the former every single time.
I’ve wasted so much time talking about what I could do or should do or might do. But the only thing that matters is what I actually do.
So start. Start before you’re ready.
To be or not to be? Nah, that’s too much thinking. Just do.