--- title: Cultivate a strong bias towards action created: 2024-11-18T09:18:12 modified: 2025-08-29T14:50:36 --- > _“To be is to do.” — Immanuel Kant_ > _“Nothing will work unless you do.” — Maya Angelou_ > _“It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness.” — Eleanor Roosevelt_ > _“Strategy is a commodity, execution is an art.” — Peter Drucker_ > _“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” — [Michael Scott](https://www.google.com/search?q=Michael%20Scott)_ > _“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe_ > _“The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts.” — James Joyce_ > _“It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.” ― Jane Austen_ > _「不做不知道，做了才知道，輸得起就好」 — 郝旭烈_ > _“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” — Michael Jordan_ > _[“The universe doesn’t give you what you ask for with your thoughts - it gives you what you demand with your actions.” — Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/319474-the-universe-doesn-t-give-you-what-you-ask-for-with)_ [@pressfieldWarArtBreak2003] > _“The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work. The professional concentrates on the work and [allows rewards to come or not come](Not%20caring%20lets%20us%20perform%20better.md), whatever they like.” ― Steven Pressfield, [The War of Art](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/722104)_ [^1] [^2] [@gogginsCantHurtMe2018] > _“Our culture has become hooked on the quick-fix, the life hack, efficiency. Everyone is on the hunt for that simple action algorithm that nets maximum profit with the least amount of effort. There’s no denying this attitude may get you some of the trappings of success, if you’re lucky, but it will not lead to a calloused mind or self-mastery. If you want to master the mind and remove your governor, you’ll have to become addicted to hard work. Because passion and obsession, even talent, are only useful tools if you have the work ethic to back them up.”_ > _[“The problem with smart people is they can come up with a good reason for not doing anything. They are smart enough to find the cracks, to foresee the challenges, and to talk themselves out of the idea. They are experts at justifying their lack of courage or lack of action with an intelligent excuse. But there will always be reasons to not do something, and this is particularly true of anything worth doing. We value those moments in which we overcame challenge, not those in which we avoided it. Ultimately, action is a choice. The choice to emphasize the reasons for doing it despite the reasons you have for avoiding it.” — James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/august-8-2024)_ > _[Action kills anxiety](stress%20and%20anxiety.md). You only feel afraid of doing the thing when you’re not doing the thing. Once you’re doing it, you just focus on doing it. If you want to get fit, go to the gym. Right now. If you want to build a business, find one thing you can do and do it. Right now. If you want to expand your network, start sending cold DMs. Right now. If you want a romantic partner, join a group where you might meet someone. Right now. The more you procrastinate, the worse you’ll feel. [Get in the arena.](https://www.workingtheorys.com/p/before-the-crowd) It’s ironically easier to be in it than anxiously watching and waiting on the sidelines.” — Charles Miller_ --- Just Fucking Do It (#JFDI)! * 先做再說 * 先盡全力搞砸再說 --- The real gap is between doing nothing and doing something. --- Creating more collisions and generating more data through motion. --- Stop fearing the regret of action and start fearing the regret of inaction. The regret from inaction is always more painful than the regret from action. Nobody gets to their deathbed and says, “I’m sorry for trying so many things.” --- It is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking, than it is to think yourself into a new way of acting. It’s also a lot easier to [change direction](adaptability.md) when you’re moving forward than when you’re static. --- Act first, insight second. [Motivation starts with action.](why-is-it-so-hard-to-just-do-the-work.md) --- Krummes Holz gibt auch gerades Feuer. = Crooked logs also make straight fires. --- [The first minute of action](Just%20getting%20started.md) is worth more than a year of perfect planning. --- Pragmatism 實用主義 --- When people talk about traveling to the past, they worry about radically changing the present by [doing something small](Always%20start%20small.md), but barely anyone in the present really thinks that they can radically change the future by doing something small. --- ~~Invest and hope for the best~~ --- 當一個「用手思考」的人 --- > _“All know the way; few actually walk it.” — Bodhidharma_ 大部分的人在「知道」和「做到」之間有很大的鴻溝（知易行難）→ [Life is a game of awareness and action: Awareness to understand something's importance and action to execute on that importance.](https://www.sahilbloom.com/newsletter/11-uncommon-lessons-from-uncommon-minds) --- > _“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.” — Dale Carnegie_ Every single thing you want in life is on the other side of something you don’t want to do. The answers you seek are found in the actions you avoid. * The body you seek is found in the workouts you avoid. * The relationships you seek are found in the hard conversations you delay. * The clarity you seek is found in the walks you skip. * The purpose you seek is found in the focused work you neglect. * The success you seek is found in the hours of execution you put off. **What answers are hidden in the actions you avoid?** --- # Later You’ll Be Dead. One day, you’ll be gone. Life is full of ‘laters.’ * _I’ll spend more time with my kids later._ * _I’ll prioritize my health later._ * _I’ll create more freedom later._ But here’s the harsh truth: _later_ often means _never._ Most of the things you promise to do later won’t be possible by the time you get around to them. * Your health won’t wait for you. * Your kids won’t be five years old forever. * Freedom and fulfillment won’t magically appear on their own. Either design the life you want now—or be prepared to live with regret later. It’s never too late. Later is the default mindset. Later is the acceptance of your fate. Later is where your dream life goes to die. Later is the self-limiting word of the broken. There is no later, because later you’ll be [dead](death.md). --- # Stop Gathering More Information And Start Acting On The Information You Already Have. * Information is abundant, action is hard. Execution is everything. * Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats. * EXECUTION is more important than the tactic itself. * Solve the **“Knowledge”** problem first (by gathering information), then the **“Execution”** problem (by creating evidence pool). * But be aware of **The Information-Action Gap** (= The time lag between receiving information and acting on that information) * “If information isn’t nurtured with action, it loses its power.” * Knowledge is as vital to life as air. Just as no one should be denied the right to breathe, knowledge should be freely accessible to all. Yet, like air that must be inhaled to sustain life, knowledge only becomes truly valuable when it is applied—mere possession is not enough. * [Tutorial Hell](https://www.google.com/search?q=Tutorial+Hell) is a state of perpetual [learning](learning-is-the-single-best-investment-that-you-can-make-for-your-time.md), often marked by the consumption of one tutorial after another without putting acquired knowledge into practice. * How to master any skill fast? 1. Stop studying * Most people get trapped in _tutorial hel_l and have nothing to show for years of “[learning](learning-is-the-single-best-investment-that-you-can-make-for-your-time.md).” 2. Outline a project 3. Start building it 4. Hit a roadblock 5. Research how to overcome it 6. Repeat until completed --- # Two Type Of Priorities 1. **Stated Priorities:** Priorities that people say they have 2. **Demonstrated Priorities:** Priorities that people’s actions show they have True priorities must be verbalized! --- # [Things That Aren't Doing the Thing](https://strangestloop.io/essays/things-that-arent-doing-the-thing) > Preparing to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. > > Scheduling time to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. > > Making a to-do list for the thing isn’t doing the thing. > > Telling people you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. > > Messaging friends who may or may not be doing the thing isn’t doing the thing. > > Writing a banger tweet about how you’re going to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. > > Hating on yourself for not doing the thing isn’t doing the thing. Hating on other people who have done the thing isn’t doing the thing. Hating on the obstacles in the way of doing the thing isn’t doing the thing. > > Fantasizing about all of the adoration you’ll receive once you do the thing isn’t doing the thing. > > Reading about how to do the thing isn’t doing the thing. Reading about how other people did the thing isn’t doing the thing. Reading this essay isn’t doing the thing. > > _The only thing that is doing the thing is doing the thing._ [^1]: _“The professional learns to recognize envy-driven criticism and to take it for what it is: the supreme compliment. The critic hates most that which he would have done himself if he had had the guts.” ― Steven Pressfield, [The War of Art](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/722104)_ [^2]: _“The artist cannot look to others to validate his efforts or his calling. If you don’t believe me, ask Van Gogh, who produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.” ― Steven Pressfield, [The War of Art](https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/722104)_