When you’re doing something important, you don’t want to mess it up. So you might over think and over plan even more than usual.
Especially if you’re going to invest a lot of time, money or energy, like changing jobs or starting a new business. Either that, or it’s a one time decision where there’s no going back. Like getting a tattoo or having a baby.
A certain amount of thought and planning makes sense. But all the time you’re spending planning isn’t moving you forward.
Perfect plans are a myth
When I was renovating my first house, I asked a colleague how long it would take.
“3 times longer than you think.”
My initial thought was, “I’m sure my plans won’t be out by that much.”
But in the first week when started taking the wallpaper off and the old 1930s plaster fell off the walls in chunks, and I set a wall socket on fire while drying my hair… I came to realise he was right.
Life happens. Things go wrong.
No matter how much time you spend planning it will never, ever go to plan. You’ll always need to adapt along the way. It’s why project management is an entire profession.
The plan is helpful for figuring out where you want to go, but how you get there is likely to change. And even then, the place you thought you were heading, might not be where you end up.
Start before you’re ready
Every business book ever tells you to identify your audience avatar and design everything around them.
So I’ve spent around a month trying to decide who that person is because:
“When you speak to everyone, you speak to no one” Seth Godin.
While figuring it out, I held off writing any articles, building the website or filming any videos in case I targeted the wrong person, or cast the net too wide and appealed to no-one.
But the clock is ticking on the amount of time I have to get this business working so I just needed to pick someone and start making content!
Because of this, something amazing happened. By forcing myself to define who I want to help because I started making content, it’s actually become clearer to me. And as I make more content, it’ll get clearer and clearer.
I was concerned that I might change who I want to help in the future, but then I realised if that happens, I’ll make the changes then. I can’t plan for something that might not even happen.
Is there something you’ve been planning for ages that you can take a little action on today? It’ll move you forward and help you get clearer on what you want or need to do next.
Theories about action creating clarity
There are a bunch of different theories that support taking action as a way to get clearer on what you want.
Experiential Learning Theory (Kolb, 1984)
Kolb’s model is all about learning through experience. Action gives you real life feedback so you can reflect and adjust.
Experiences let you try things out, test your assumptions, learn and understand things on a deeper level which leads you to greater clarity over time.
Self-Perception Theory (Bem, 1972)
“You won’t know until you try it.”
By doing something and then reflecting on your own reactions you’ll get clearer on what you like and don’t like and what you might want to try next.
For example, trying out a new hobby, side hustle or secondment to another department can help you figure out if it aligns with your values and interests.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger, 1957)
If you’re an over thinker like me, then this one is for you!
Cognitive dissonance happens when your actions or environment don’t align with your beliefs or values. You’ll feel uncomfortable and be driven to sort it out.
For example, if your company has just been bought out by a fossil fuel giant, but one of your core values is sustainability, then you’ll feel cognitive dissonance until you resolve it.
Likewise, when you take action you are forced to confront contradictions in your thinking helping you to refine what you want and why.
This happened with me when I needed to write the content for my homepage. I needed to face the question – Who do I help and what do I help them with?
Behavioral Activation
First used in therapy for depression, behavioural activation involves taking action even when you have no motivation or when it feels scary to take action.
By taking even small actions, such as doing something on your to do list, leads to positive reinforcement and generates feedback about what works and what doesn’t.
You’ll also get a dopamine boost for doing something and positive emotions lead to clearer thinking. When you’re in a good mood, you’re in a much better place to reflect on your goals.
Main takeaway
Action creates clarity.
Just do it.