Action over Angst - Get Started

It is easy to get stuck in the gap between where you are and where you want to be. When a goal feels too overwhelming to achieve, you don't know how to start, or when you aren't even sure if it’s the right goal, the result is often procrastination or total stagnation.

Here are five key concepts you can apply to turn that worry or confusion into momentum.

1. The "Right Path" Fallacy is a common barrier to starting something new or challenging when we become clouded by the fear of heading in the wrong direction. We wait for a roadmap of clarity and assurance that rarely comes.

The Reframe: Instead of trying to find the perfect goal with all the perfect steps in place, appreciate the growth opportunities ahead, accept the to-be-determined, and embrace the exploration.

The Action: Treat your approach as a low-stakes experiment rather than a lifelong commitment. If the direction is 10% better than standing still, it is likely the right move for now and your learning along the way.

2. When an objective feels insurmountable, it’s usually because your brain is trying to solve for something far in the future with many uncontrollable variables, while you’re still on Day 1. This creates unnecessary complexity that causes stress and drains your energy.

The Reframe: While having clarity on where you're headed is important and comforting, you just need to focus on what's the next most important thing that keeps you moving forward.

The Action: Identify the single most straight-forward action you can take now. Then you can consider options for what comes next after the immediate step is accomplished, rinse and repeat.

3. Overwhelm is rarely caused by the individual activity itself; it’s typically caused by the noise of competing priorities and pressure of should-dos or have-tos. It can be like the classic concept of drinking from a firehose or feeling buried by burden, or being pulled in too many directions.

The Reframe: Rather than swallowing the entire bucket of the project all at once, just take sips. Choosing what You Can Do Now helps bring comfort and confidence.

The Action: Identify the irrelevant/unnecessary. Try explicitly writing down three tasks or worries that you are giving yourself permission to automate, eliminate, or delegate this week to make room for your primary objective that you know you can handle now.

4. Angst can grow in the gap between your effort and expected outcomes. You can’t always control the final results, but you can control what you do and how you respond.

The Reframe: Control the Controllables. Shift from finish-line success is the result (which is external) to the process (which is internal). The results will come and truly depend on so many variables. Recognize the importance of your actions and take pride in the impact you can make.

The Action: Set process milestones versus defining set-in-stone end states. Learn and adjust as you progress through the process and you'll be surprised at how much you have achieved already along the way.

5. Facing something never been done before, aiming to have all the answers, or predicting perfection and grand glory from the start, are momentum killers. These imposed criteria makes every goal feel like a high-stakes performance.

The Reframe: View your goals as a beta test. An opportunity to learn and try something new or different. It's okay if you or the outcome are not immediately amazing. This removes the ego from the equation. If a beta test fails, you don't fail—you just collect data. Learn and grow from mistakes, data, and successes along the way.

The Action: Just Try It. Pick one simple thing that can be adjusted and just try it in a way that works for you. You're not locked in to that approach forever. By lowering the barrier to entry, you eliminate the friction of starting. You can modify as needed, add complexity, and kick up the pace as you sort out the kinks and get comfortable. Just Try It.