If You’re Ambitious But Stuck, Read This
The Problem With Constant Consumption
Having a bias towards action is common advice,
but what happens when your action consists solely
of reading, learning, and consuming without actually building anything?
You might think you are being highly productive by listening
to educational podcasts, saving articles,
and studying instead of doom-scrolling or watching TV.
However, time can pass,
and you may find yourself in the same place.
Learning, consuming, and reprogramming bad habits
is only the first step, but it doesn’t get you anywhere on its own.
The Difference Between Knowing and Doing
There is a massive difference between knowing how to do something
in theory and actually doing it in practice.
For example, you can study how to perform CPR, pass all the tests,
and practice flawlessly on dummies.
You might feel completely ready.
But performing compressions on a real human being during
an actual emergency is a completely different experience.
Psychologists call this the fluency illusion.
The more you are exposed to something—the more you hear it,
read it, study it, and watch it—the more familiar it feels.
However, because it is still just in your head, you haven’t actually done it.
It is like running on a treadmill: you are sprinting,
you are sweating, and it feels like you are making progress,
but you haven’t actually moved anywhere.
Stop Consuming and Start Creating
Once you have consumed enough, it is time to start creating.
You need to test your theories,
share your ideas, build projects, and solve problems.
Focus on building an audience,
because knowledge that stays inside of you helps nobody.
It is only by creating things for other people that you can:
- Deliver value.
- Transfer belief.
- Build an honest reputation that creates real leverage.
- Earn the freedom to work on the things you love and have people recognize you for what you have done.
As Aristotle said over 2,300 years ago,
“For the things we have to learn before we can do them,
we learn by doing them.”
If you are ambitious and know you are capable of more,
you must stop consuming and start creating.
You will never regret putting your work out into the world,
but you will regret holding it back.
