Doubt Wastes Energy
As yesterday’s readers will know, I promised a massive challenge, the likes of which the world hasn’t really seen.
Today, I spent a couple of hours doubting myself and otherwise chastising myself for the fact that I’ve put out, in the open, a challenge that I probably can’t achieve.
And that was a waste of time and energy, like all doubt is.
Here’s how I talked myself out of talking myself out of the big challenge I’ve set myself.
You Can Only Do One Of Two Things
Let’s say you have a task that seems very challenging, but ultimately very rewarding.
- You want to start a business
- You want to climb a mountain
- You’re 5 semesters deep on a 6 semester course and it’s dissertation time and you really want to just quit University to be an ebook hustler but you’re £20k in student loans and your parents won’t get it
You can waste a lot of energy looking at the metaphorical mountain and saying, “I can’t do it” and at the end of that introspection, you’ll be in a worse place mentally while still on the starting square.
Or you can run through hundreds of options about how to make it easier on yourself, how you can lower the standards with plausible deniability… again, all you’re doing is burning mental fuel and getting nowhere.
Here, instead, are two things that’ll push you forward.
Plan Better
Most problems with massive goals are actually problems with breaking down said massive goals into smaller, more achievable goals.
Say you’re going to write twenty books in twenty weeks. A massive goal that’ll require consistency and a relentless pace.
You don’t need to worry about book twenty unless it’s going to make it easier to write book one. Really, your first goal is to write book one in week one. That’s the only thing you need to concern yourself with.
Everything else can go in a notebook ready to be seen when time comes to it.
Planning Better extends solely to, “How do I make smaller goals” and then “how do I better use my time and the resources available to me in order to get the first goal done?”
It’s not “better planning” to expand the scope of your project and stay on Square Zero.
Put The First Step Forward
If in doubt, you can always put the first step forward.
I’ve written at length in the archives about the power of building streaks, daily habits, and so on; once you start running with a project, it gets easier to build momentum and harder to stop.
Writing your dissertation is the big picture; writing the preamble – which you can edit later, no less! – is easy in comparison.
Writing a book comes after writing the prologue.
Completing an Iron Man Triathlon comes far down the line from a simple 1 mile run from your house to the end of the road and back.
Step One doesn’t have to be perfect, but you should take it.
It’s One Of Those Two
Everyone works differently and breaking the inertia of a new project is to a large extent individual.
However, the above two options, and maybe doing both, is a way to appeal to the strategists and the impulse people alike.
Moreover, both are far better alternatives than the original problem we were experiencing; sitting around and doubting as an alternative to doing.
Final Thoughts
Doubt is a waste of energy. In comparison, any sort of action in any direction tends towards being more useful.
There’s nothing revolutionary about the two above solutions, but fundamental as they are, they will work in the vast majority of cases.
Also, it’s worth noting that the solution becomes part of the process going forward; you are stronger and find it easier to move each time you overcome the obstacle of not starting.
Until the next one,
Jamie