Any action beats inaction
Reaching for your goals is usually a simple (if challenging) matter of planning and execution:
Pick a goal you wish to reach.
Understand where you are now in relation to that goal.
Formulate a pathway to get where you want to be.
Design a plan to navigate that pathway.
Execute the plan, beign ready to adjust as needed along the way.
Simple, yes, but not without its challenges.
One of the biggest challenges comes at the decision points:
Which goal should I pursue?
Which method should I implement to get there?
Among competing priorities, which one should I prefer?
Lacking complete information, how should I begin?
In moments like these, it can be tempting to stall. To wait. To delay until more information is available. To avoid the difficult decision.
Unfortunately, inaction and indecision are not your friends.
Fortunately, the temptation to delay decreases significantly when you realize one important truth:
You will never have perfcet information; you will always have uncertainty.
In moments of indecision, it can be wise to puase for reflection.
But after that brief reflection, the best decision is any decision. The best action is any action.
Action provides results.
Results provide information.
Information guides future decisions.
Here’s the thing:
If you have some headache in your work, and that headache has been a recurring problem for too long (whatever “too long” means to you), something has to change.
And if you want it to change, you must take some action to change it.
That means “waiting for perfect information and absolute certainty” is not going to get you there.
Instead of waiting:
Pick any reasonable action. Undertake it. Observe the results. Adjust. Repeat.
All the best,
A.