Hello!
Seiiti Arata.
When we hear the word “stress”, our minds immediately think of someone with many things
to accomplish: professional commitments, writing a thesis, rebalancing the investment portfolio,
taking care of the family, and a thousand other projects at the same time...
But there is another type of stress that is rarely mentioned: the stress of doing nothing.
This kind of stress comes when you have plenty of ideas in your head, but fail to execute
any of them.
You suffer from the analysis paralysis that we explained in the first episode of the Hello!
Seiiti Arata series [https://arata.se/hello01] (Wow!
That was seven years ago!).
Analysis paralysis occurs when you spend your time simply planning, studying, observing,
and thinking...
You know that you could be doing something, and you’re aware of the potential benefits,
but you don't act.
Of course, you don't see the result that you’re hoping for.
The distance between the idea in your head and the concrete reality is huge.
This distance creates stress that can be as dangerous as the stress of doing a thousand
things at once.
The biggest difference is that the stress of doing nothing can be eliminated much easier
than the stress of having a thousand things to do.
Just think small.
Think small to act small.
This is the best way to eliminate the stress of doing nothing.
We fail to act for various reasons.
One of the main reasons is that we think too big.
That is, we think about too many things, considering everything at the same time.
For example: Imagine Bob, who wants to lose weight.
Bob basically needs to eat better and exercise more.
The problem comes when Bob gets lost in his thoughts.
He thinks that he has to hire a nutritionist, enroll in a gym, buy several books on how
to lose weight, and research new recipes.
Bob wonders whether it's better to do diet X or Y.
He doesn’t know if it's better to fast and workout in the morning or in the afternoon.
What will he eat during an upcoming birthday party?
Will he make an exception or stick to his diet?
Bob even thinks about the clothes that he is going to buy after he reaches his goal
in a few months.
There is so much to think about that Bob ends up not acting!
Excessive imagination undermines action.
To eliminate the stress of not being able to do what you want, the first step is to
think small.
And act small.
If your goal is to lose weight, just think about eating better at your next meal.
During the meal, merely think about the next bite.
Stay in the present moment, without letting your mind wander to all the problems that
may or may not happen during your journey.
We've talked about this in other conversations, but we need to insist on this idea because
it's so powerful.
Thinking small and acting small is a very effective strategy.
Read only one page.
Just do one push-up.
Reply to only one email.
These actions are so small that you can't procrastinate or leave it for later.
At the same time, they are very powerful because they bring you out of inaction.
They break inertia and get you moving.
After that little action, it's much easier to keep moving and doing what needs to be
done.
Start taking action today.
Tomorrow simply does not exist.
Once you've adjusted your mindset to think small, the second step is to start taking
action today.
Preferably right now, enjoying the moment.
It is very common for people to put off action until tomorrow, or next Monday, or next month.
They feel that they need to prepare a little more, study a little more, or adjust the planning
details a little more.
The truth is, this is all procrastination that builds up the stress of not doing what
needs to be done.
You postpone everything for tomorrow because you know tomorrow doesn't exist.
Therefore, you become comfortable with procrastination, telling yourself that you're planning, studying,
and researching.
Get one thing in your head: planning is different from acting.
Studying is different from acting.
Searching on Google for how to do something is different from acting.
Beware of analysis paralysis!
Acting is getting your hands dirty to get closer in practice to the result that you
want to achieve.
Now...
You can argue that planning, studying and researching are also actions.
Let's look at an example to prove that they are not.
Imagine two young entrepreneurs, Norman and Michael, who want to work in the digital marketing
field.
Norman buys a complete course on the subject.
Norman takes the entire course, outlines a plan, and researches market references.
He starts following experts on Instagram, watching YouTube videos on the subject, and
listening to digital marketing podcasts…
In just a few months, Norman has the knowledge of an expert on the subject.
But Norman didn't earn a penny.
Michael takes action on day one.
Michael creates an account on social networks, starts making ads, and sends traffic to a
sales page of a product.
With each difficulty he encounters, he punctually researches how to solve that problem and implements
the solution.
He continues trying and failing, getting it right and learning.
In the process, Michael sells products and earns money.
After a few months, Norman, the entrepreneur who was planning, studying, and researching,
had expenses with courses, books, and events.
He did not earn money from digital marketing.
Michael took action, and while he made mistakes, he also managed to earn money and get results
in practice.
Of course, planning, studying, and researching are important.
However, you must be very careful not to use this as an excuse for your procrastination.
Use planning only to get you out of inertia.
Then, take the first step.
As problems appear, you can study how to solve each of those problems in practice.
Report your progress.
Use progress as a tool to exercise gratitude and visualize your achievements.
Remember this valuable tip: Think small and immediately take action.
How can this bring great results?
What's the benefit of reading just one page, doing just one push-up, or answering a single
email?
Alone, no small action brings results.
That's true.
But the accumulation of small actions over time, with consistency, brings results.
And it definitely helps you more than if you were doing nothing, stressing out and planning
everything you would do under ideal conditions.
To see the power of small accrued actions, you must report on your progress.
You can write down what you've done in a notebook, take pictures, make videos, or use your social
media to show how you are progressing toward your goals.
This type of reporting has two effects.
The first effect is that you exercise gratitude for the progress you are making.
Gratitude reduces the negative mindset that you're not doing anything.
Whenever you put yourself in a state of gratitude, you automatically bring yourself to the present
moment.
Thus, you focus on the good side of things, putting aside the negative aspects of the
future that may not even happen.
When you report on your progress and visualize your achievements, the second effect is that
you keep discipline high enough to continue moving forward.
You increase your self-efficacy when you realize your progress, as we talked about in episode
260 of the series Hello!
Seiiti Arata [https://arata.se/hello260].
This second effect of increasing self-efficacy is essential!
If someday you get discouraged, you can look at your notebook, photo album, or social media
timeline to remember where you started your journey and how far you've come.
In the Planning Your Life training, we will put all of this into practice together.
In short, here are three simple tips to take the stress out of doing little: (1) think
small, (2) take action today, and (3) track your progress.
Start now to get closer to the results you want.
In the same way that there are people stressed by having too much to do, there are people
stressed by doing too little.
These are people who are thinking and planning and studying so much that they never take
action, and they end up frustrated because of it.
Now you know the three steps you need to take to end that kind of stress.
First, think small.
Second, take action immediately.
Third, track your progress so you can see what you've accomplished even when acting
small.
Ideally, these steps are part of a larger plan.
You need a plan that covers your highest personal values, but also identifies the next steps
that you need to take to turn your goals into reality.
You can learn how to make such a plan in the course, Planning Your Life, which is available
to you at https://arata.se/planningyourlife.