The Crippling Effect of Over-thinking. Everything.

By Matt Cheuvront (lifewithoutpants.com)

I almost didn’t write this. But then I did.

Over-thinking. I do it all the time. I’m doing it right now — right now as I write this, having not even been awake for half an hour.

The more I mature into my role as an entrepreneur — as a leader — as someone who’s still “growing up” — the more I continue to understand the importance of action. We’re all thinkers — some deeper than others — but very few of us are true men and women of action.We over-think because it’s a hell of a lot easier to wonder “what if?” than to prove, “why not?”

The funny thing is, we convince ourselves that the the “thinking” part is what’s most important. We use words like “intentional”, “strategic”, and “well-planned”. But what about words like “try”, “experiment”, and “fail”?

Intention is absolutely nothing without action.

You learn very, very little sitting back and thinking things through. The most I’ve grown — as an entrepreneur — as a writer — as a man — has been through simply giving things an old-fashioned try. When I’ve overcome the “thinking” stage and haven’t been afraid of failing, what other people will think, or if it has already been done before. As my good friend and colleague Brett said recently:

“Why guess at the right move behind the curtains when you can learn in real time? Why worry over the right direction when you can focus on aligning your efforts with the values of your brand? Do this and the direction isn’t the distinction any more — it’s your ability to press the pedal to the floor when other brands are still idling at the line. So go. Tweak and refine the approach once you’re running the race.”

I’m inspired by those out there who simply keep trying. They keep tinkering. They keep iterating. Their writing may not be well-articulated or the topics even clearly defined, but they write. Their product may have inconsistencies and flaws, but they ship. Their services may be a little confusing and ambiguous,but they put themselves out there for the world to see.

Ask yourself, would you rather be someone who’s willing to roll the dice, experiment, possibly fail but maybe — just maybe — become wildly successful — or someone who constantly over-thinks and is stuck behind “what if?”, “maybe later”, and “I need more time to plan”?

This is my first post on Medium. When I fired up this blank page, I was over-thinking what I should write about. I almost didn’t write anything. But then I did.

Here’s to leaving behind “almost did” and pushing forward, no matter how much it might suck or how imperfect it may be, as someone who “did”.