Action over thought - avoid perfectionism

This is a short post to address what many students spend their time doing: thinking about things rather than doing something about them!

 

The output from just “thinking”? Zero, nada, not a thing.

 

The output from thinking and then DOING? Well, now we’re getting somewhere.

 

We spend a LOT of time thinking and procrastinating about an activity.

 

When we prolong this THINKING about getting something done all we end up doing is WORRYING about the activity.

 

As the NIKE slogan goes, just do it! Just get working at a task. Make mistakes, get it wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perfectionism

 

 

Don’t expect to be an expert straight away – remember EVERY expert was once a beginner, messing things up, making mistakes, getting advice, correcting the mistakes and making progress.

 

Our learning journey is all about DOING! Do the sum, read the chapter, write the essay, tell someone the first line of the poem, converse in the language that you’re so afraid of. You get the idea.

 

When we try to be perfect, we end up wasting time and trip ourselves up in the fear of getting something wrong.

 

Check out this post about “50 lbs for an A” – a fascinating study about the benefits of doing rather than just thinking about doing.

 

 

Final thought – ruminating

 

 

 

 

When we hesitate, we often ruminate, allowing a thought to circle around in our heads again and again and again.

 

The science is unequivocal on what this leads to. Unhappiness!

 

The author Sonja Lyubomirsky has written extensively on this topic and comment that:

 

 

“If you are someone plagued by ruminations, you are unlikely to become happier before you can break that habit.”

 

 

Put simply, stop ruminating!

 

Thinking over and over again about something that we SHOULD be doing is a painful experience and the doing of the activity, whether it’s done well or not, often results in a feeling of satisfaction and progress.

 

Each step towards a goal is important and one of the keys to success in any aspect of life, especially as a student.

 

Stop thinking, stop worrying, stop wondering if you should do, just get doing!