Prompted: Method Doesn't Matter
Consistently good will always be better than occasionally great.
Good afternoon. I trust the weekend treated you well!
I hope today’s thoughts help you cut through the noise and take one step towards something important to you.
As always, thanks for reading!
Kevin
It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.
- Richard Feynman
Method Doesn’t Matter
I’ve written arguments to work really hard (Grit or Self-Criticism) and I’ve also written arguments on the importance of slowing down (Zone 2 or Make Things Easy).
Although all of these approaches are different from one another, each framework has helped someone on their journey to become a bit better each day. Are they 100% correct or the only way to do things? Absolutely not.
There’s no “right” way to do anything, but there are countless practical strategies and frameworks that have been tested by others.
Becoming a little bit better each day is less about how you do things and more about what you do.
If the goal is to lose weight, there are hundreds of ways to do it. Objectively, some are better than others, but what matters is losing weight, not how you do it.
We can all benefit from focusing more on action than a specific method, framework, or strategy used to reach the desired end state. In reality, all those techniques and tactics were just made up by someone who was figuring it out on their own anyway. They just happened to 1) have success and 2) share their ideas. Tons of other people accomplished the same end goal with completely different methods.
Method doesn't matter.
When it comes to choosing growth, we’re always staring down a green light.
We can try to figure out which intersection is the best for crossing the road, but we run the risk of the light turning. Alternatively, we can scamper across while we have the chance.
It might not be the optimal time to cross the street, but making it to the other side will always put us in a better position than staying stagnant.
The how is not nearly as important as the what. We're all pretty smart people, and most of the time we already know what we have to do, but we procrastinate and search for the how. We search for articles, ask for advice, create excuses, and ultimately don't move any closer to what’s important because we're blinded by the how.
Take a step back and ask yourself, "What do I really want?".
Instead of trying to figure out how to get it, just start doing the work. You know what you need to do.
If you're starting a business don't design business cards. Start talking to people and find customers. If you're writing a book, don't start looking at other authors or comparing software. Write. If you’re looking for a new job don’t search for companies with the best culture or highest salaries. Start applying.
There will always be time to optimize our pursuits once we get started.
Life is simple but difficult. We need to constantly ask ourselves if we're focused on doing the work or searching for the how.
When in doubt, do.
Prompts
What do I want to achieve? What do I need to do (regardless of how I do it) to get there?
Are there multiple avenues to reach my desired end goal?
Are my actions creating progress?
Deep Dive
Mastering the Art of Just Start
A simple and objective blog post to help kickstart action.
Imperfect Action - Joe Rinaldi
A quick post on the value of taking action, even if it’s messy.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.
Kevin Bronander
Its so true, ESPECIALLY with diets. People get too bogged down in "what type of diet to follow" and never actually get on a diet that is efficient and helps them lose weight.