I’m all talk

The amount of interesting ideas is basically endless. But our time definitely isn’t.

And I have this annoying tendency towards big ideas and little action. So I end up feeling chronically overwhelmed - Ten projects in my mind competing for my attention and nothing getting done.

So it's time for Idea Hygiene. I have a simple rule for this process:

So if I catch myself talking about something for the third time, it’s time for a decision. Is this important to me?

If it is, forgetting it forever hurts - so I guess I’ll have to act on it. And if I can’t be bothered to do something - it’s just a sneaky little distraction. Attractive enough to take up lots of headspace, but not enough to put into practice.

These are the things we should - according to Warren Buffet - “avoid at all cost”¹. Because we don’t even have the lifetime for all the important things. So why do I keep wasting it talking about some B-Priority?

🏆 False Accomplishments:

It just feels good. Talking about the next great idea is pretty easy, and it almost feels like having accomplished something. But I haven’t.

Studies show that this premature good feeling actually makes us less likely to act on our goals - because we feel like we’re already there².

This doesn’t take away the value of getting an accountability partner - telling a friend about a concrete action plan. But it’s vaguely talking about your goals has the opposite effect.

And as always, social media makes it worse. If your goal is to become someone who studies, posting a story of your laptop makes you feel that accomplishment, without ever studying³.

What all of this is trying to foster is a bias to action. It’s what I get from every conversation with Max Linden, my childhood friend turned founder of lemon.markets.

Anytime I tell him about a new idea of mine, he responds with the smallest possible first step to put it into practice. Just to test it.

And if it doesn’t work - cool! Now I know, instead of pondering in my fantasy world. I’ve given myself a gift: Headspace.

So be your own personal Max. Give yourself two chances to talk - and the third time, it’s time to do.