In this post, we explore why taking messy action is crucial for bringing your ideas to life and overcoming perfectionism. The blogpost is just a short summary of the full podcast episode. Watch the whole episode here and discover more tips on embracing messy action.
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The Pitfalls of Overthinking
You got an idea, you get excited. You start researching, asking friends and family, overthinking it, doubting it.... You get overwhelmed by all the different angles and things needed to be done in order for it to get really perfect... Often this leads to full on paralysis and consequently inaction. Don't rob yourself of this amazing experience by doing too much of the planning in advance.
Overcoming Comparison
There will always be someone better or more advanced, which can trigger self-doubt and hold you back. Try not to look to much to the side at what others do and instead dig into yourself. What do you like to do. What brings you joy and lights you up.
Embrace Imperfection
Focusing on perfecting small details early on makes it harder to adapt and change them later. Start with the attitude that "this is just a draft and I can change things again later on". That way you are less likely to protect it later when it's time to change things again because it's not perfect yet. It also helps you to actually start doing something because it allows you to start before you feel like all is perfect and ready.
Maintain Momentum
Taking action immediately instead of overthinking and spiraling ensures you keep up the momentum. Have you ever experienced excitement about an idea and then you started researching and thinking about it more and then the excitement started to wear off because self-doubt crept in? that's exactly what we don't want. Start today and keep this excitement and the momentum that comes with it alive. Don't kill it with self-doubt.
Reality vs. Imagination
Taking action assures that you get a hands on experience right away. Because things often look and feel different in our minds than when we actually apply them. Maybe after just a few hours into whatever excited you you realize that it's not what you envisioned and you can let go of the idea again. However if you spend all these hours researching, thinking, spiraling, reconsidering, planning (you get the point :D) you will waste precious time you could have spent on a new project because you would have known that this one is not for you.
Liberate Yourself
It feels liberating to try things without the pressure of having it all figured out. Don't you sometimes see kids doing random things being in flow and super happy with what they do? This is what you can get too if you allow yourself to just try things and be enough in this very moment. There is always time and room to improve and this improvement usually comes from taking that initial action. So liberate yourself from all those constraints you put on yourself and take that messy action today.
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