Eliminating Overwhelm with Thoughtful Action

Doing the next right thing to drive meaningful progress and outcomes.

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You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending by doing the next right thing.

C.S. Lewis

Doing something worthwhile requires a significant amount of effort.

We’re often searching for the shortest path between where we are right now and where we want to be, but to get the results we want, there is no escaping the work required.

There is no way to get the results that we want other than doing the work. If we skip it, half-ass it, or rush through it, we won’t get the desired outcomes.

Speed doesn’t matter without completion. Doing something worthwhile is binary: we’re willing to do the work or we’re not.

The only thing that matters are the outcomes. There’s no benefit in rushing through life for subpar results.

It’s not the thought that counts, it’s the outcomes we deliver that truly matter.

Thoughts don’t make progress, thoughtful actions do.

Speed kills

The enemies of meaningful progress are reactivity and speed.

We can’t show up to the gym without a plan. We can’t open the fridge without knowing what we’ll make for dinner. We can’t finish work and ask ourselves what we’ll do next. We can’t take our relationship day by day.

There is no worse strategy to get what we want than showing up unprepared and trying to force an outcome.

When we do, life feels unfair. We feel like we’re working diligently toward the outcomes we want. We’ll feel stressed and overwhelmed and think to ourselves “I’m doing everything I can but I’m not getting the results I want. I’m working harder than everyone else I should have better results.”

But we get none of what we want. We squander everything.

Reactively trying to accelerate any pursuit is like forcing a square peg into a round hole. We don’t have any chance to get what we want, and if we do, we destroy the very thing we’re working on in the process.

Next right thing

Instead, we should be proactive and patient. To create worthwhile outcomes we need to be two steps ahead at all times.

We need to understand where we are right now and what work is required to move us closer to the outcomes we want.

We should be asking ourselves, where is this going next? What do I need to do to move this forward? How can I prepare for this? How can I make that process easier?

When we’re proactive and patient instead of reactive and rushed, making meaningful progress feels effortless. We’re simply identifying the next right thing and doing the work one step at a time.

It’s not stressful or confusing and we’re slowly but surely moving closer to the outcomes we want.

It takes longer and it’s more work, but we’re in complete control and we’re guaranteed to get the right outcome.

Doing something worthwhile requires a significant amount of time and effort, but it’s the only way to get the outcomes we want.

Prompts

1. Where in your life are you rushing towards an outcome?

2. What pursuits in your life are quality outcomes the most important?

3. What is the next right thing you can do today to make meaningful progress on something worthwhile?

Deep Dive

• Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday

  • Holiday suggests focusing on stillness as the path to avoid overwhelm and improve performance.

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Thanks for reading! I’ll see you next Sunday.

Kevin