I was sitting with S at his long, dark oak table. We were talking, and I sarcastically mentioned that I think Substack is just an intellectual OnlyFans. He laughed and told me, "that's a great tweet." I did a quick Twitter search and found someone who had tweeted a similar idea a month ago. I told him that I thought my wording was better. He replied, "It's not." He paused and then said, "Because it's in your head."
I was struck with guilt in that moment. He was so right that it pierced my skin and rang true throughout my DNA.
Most people I know have a bias toward thinking rather than acting. It feels like older generations don't suffer from this affliction as much as Gen Z does. I can and will write an entire post on why I think this is the case. For now, I'll just say that social media and the internet are the culprits (didn't they cause everything?).
If you don't make decisions and act with conviction, things will happen to you instead of you making things happen. Your life will be determined by other people. It's not so much the thinking itself that is detrimental; it's the lack of action caused by overthinking.
My New Year's resolution was to act quickly and with conviction (intelligently). Our judgment is trained on making decisions. It feels like I'm procrastinating on doing things because I have such a high standard for myself and the decisions I make. Every decision you make won't be a good one, but you have to make decisions and take action to move your life forward. If you stagnate now, it's easy to predict what your life will look like in 20 years. Taking action and making decisions with conviction gives you agency in how your life will turn out.
Making the right decisions is hard. People who make excellent decisions usually do so because they've made the wrong decision in a similar situation in the past. This concept applies to problem-solving, too.
The best problem solvers solve problems quickly because they've seen a very similar problem in the past. Pattern recognition will always trump figuring something out on the spot. Our brains are wired well for pattern recognition.
Most of our life is spent learning how to live. The only way to learn how to live is by living! And I mean 'living' in the metaphorical, Tumblr sense of getting out there, meeting people, saying yes to things, experiencing things, making bold decisions, etc.
Experience is the best teacher. Some say it's the only teacher. You won't learn much if you don't take action.
Easy to say, easy to do. This lyric in a Strokes song I heard recently resonated with me. Like S's comment, I felt it throughout my whole being, and it changed the way I perceive things. If you had asked me a week ago, I would have told you action is simple but hard. It's not hard. You just need to decide to do it and act. The more you think about it, the harder it gets. For many of us prone to overthinking, thinking is the enemy. Telling yourself action is hard is such a mediocre way of coping with why you aren't acting. It’s also a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Our brains have silver tongues, such clever ways of convincing you not to do things. Don't give it the chance to speak. Act quickly and with conviction.
Thinking is the moon. Acting is the sun. So many people are living in a solar eclipse. Let the sun shine. Let its heavenly rays descend upon Earth and you, and go do things—for your sake and your loved ones'.
Live in the world, not in your head.