Less thinking, more doing
My 24-hour trip to Las Vegas & the joy of doing what you could never do before.
Hi friend,
You can do so much more than you think.
The problem is that we spend more time thinking than doing. (Don’t feel bad about it. Many people have the opposite problem: too much doing and too little thinking.)
This article is about helping you do more, and (over)think less.
If you want more support with that, try our Soulful Productivity club. We are meeting tomorrow (April 1) at 12pm ET. Your first meeting is complimentary, so you can check it out risk-free. Join us and get support in setting your priorities for April!
Expanding your world
One of my favorite feelings in the world is whatever I experience when I do something I thought I couldn’t do. It’s a mix of joy, pride, and expansion… a sense that life suddenly got larger.
It’s why I love this quote by Franz Kafka:
“Productivity is being able to do what you were never able to do before.”
When we go beyond our current limitations, our world grows. Imagine a baby who is taking her first steps. Suddenly, her world is bigger. She now has possibilities she didn’t have before (such as spilling water all over mommy’s favorite book).
If companies really wanted to understand productivity, they wouldn’t hire management consultants. They would watch the actions of little children.
Nobody pursues productivity more relentlessly than babies and toddlers. We knew about this form of magic when we were children. And we can call it forth again. 🪄
Facing the dragon
Seeing a coaching client do something they weren’t able to do before is almost as exciting as witnessing a baby take its first steps. (Plus, when adults do something new, there is usually less mayhem involved.)
The only problem with doing something you could never do before? It can be very uncomfortable. If you want the dragon’s gold, you have to make it past the dragon.
I recently fought a dragon.
This particular dragon consisted of a 24-hour trip to Las Vegas (long story, but let’s just say it seemed like a good idea at the time…).
I would leave my house at 3:50am, arrive in Las Vegas at 8am local time, spend ~14 hours in Las Vegas (that’s enough time to get into trouble, right?), get back to DC at 5:22am the next day, and arrive back home around 8am.
Given this tight schedule, it made no sense to get a hotel room. To make things worse, I had gotten sick a few days before my trip, and still felt very nauseous. 🤢
I went back and forth about whether I wanted to take on this particular dragon.
I worried about not being able to eat, and not having a hotel room, and two overnight flights, all while being stuck in introvert hell (= Las Vegas).
In short, I was thinking like a responsible adult.
How to grow beyond your current limitations
At some point, it occurred to me that I was actually fighting 2 dragons:
one in my head, and
one in reality.
The one in my head was so much worse! That’s when I decided I only had to fight one dragon — the real one.
I only had to get to Las Vegas in the real world. Not in my head.
I only had to deal with the real issues, not the imagined ones.
Instantly, things got easier. While some aspects of the trip were still hard (such as not getting good sleep two days in a row), I had an amazing time!
I met a bunch of nice people who helped me find my way around. My nausea disappeared, and I got to enjoy a huge bowl of vegan Pho (my favorite food). I finally saw Las Vegas, something I had wanted to do since being a teenager.
In short, I was able to do something I could not do before.
And it expanded my world.
All because I faced the real dragon, not the imagined one. Or, in other words, I focused on the doing, not the thinking. Like a baby taking her first steps.
Coaching questions:
What is your real dragon right now? (Doing)
For instance: “My 24-hour trip to Las Vegas. I have to get on the plane and go there.”What is the imaginary dragon? (Thinking)
For instance: “All the concerns I have about what could happen and how this could bereally uncomfortable.”
What would happen if you focused on the real dragon? (More doing, less thinking)
For instance: “I would be more in the moment. I could see clearly which issues I actually have to address, and which ones I can ignore. I could have a much better experience.”
Warmly,
Louise
Let me help you become as productive as a toddler
At its heart, at its fullest expression, productivity isn’t about something as boring as tasks, numbers, or even habits. No, it is about:
🌟 expanding possibilities that currently lie dormant in you,
🌟 helping you unlock doors that you didn’t even realize you were there, and
🌟 becoming the fullest expression of yourself.
In short, it’s about becoming a toddler (minus the temper tantrums, please!).
If you would like my support with embracing the productivity mindset of a toddler, I have many options:
➡️ Recorded workshops for paid subscribers: learn how to tap into your clarity and courage and flourish with your future self.
➡️ Group coaching: you can join my soulful productivity club (try before you join: your first meeting is complimentary)
➡️ Individual coaching: more information here.
Bonus: Before and after image of a coaching client embracing the productivity mindset of a toddler
Before:
dealing with the same-old, same-old of adulthood
After:
living the life and being unstoppable (“Hey, is that a dragon over there?”)
P.S.: Maybe I should write a book called “Toddlers who run with dragons”?
P.P.S.: Here’s the link again if you want to join us tomorrow.