Progress is Made by Doing Not by Pondering

“Progress is made by doing, not by pondering.”

Think Less, Do More

I am sorry that I do not know who coined that phrase but I absolutely love it. It’s one of my core tenants as I move about this world. It is a reminder to be consistent, to show up, to work hard, to do more and think less.

It makes me think of a quote by the great Tony Robbins:

“Where focus goes, energy flows.” - Tony Robbins

Have you ever had those days where try as you might but you just don’t make progress on anything? Every meeting, every project seems to be stalled and there doesn’t appear to be progress being made anywhere. I’m sure we have all had those days, weeks, months or heck maybe even years. We know how that feels and to me it doesn’t feel good.

I try really hard to always make progress on something, daily. It makes me feel alive. It allows me to grow. It allows me to learn new things and think differently.

When I go out skateboarding or snowboarding I try my darndest to be just a tiny bit better today than I was yesterday. I try to land one new trick or land a previous trick just a tiny bit cleaner or just improve one little bit of something every time I go out. It doesn’t have to be groundbreaking or even challenging every time I go out. The important thing is that I continue to progress. Even when I don’t feel like it.

I take that same approach with my job and my profession. As someone in Information Security it’s important to not ‘rest on one’s laurels.’ Security, like technology, is vast, diverse and is rapidly changing. It’s important that progress and curiosity is a core component of your daily life so you don’t get left behind.

“Progress is made by doing, not by pondering” is also a reminder to me to not fall into the trap of analysis paralysis. Just like if you want nice abs, if you have goals and things you want to accomplish, you’ve got to put in the work.

Every day is a chance to be better than I was yesterday. Every day is a chance to learn something new that I didn’t know yesterday. Every day is a chance to make progress on something. Every day is a chance to think less and do more.