deepstash
Beta
How to get started with difficult tasks
For overthinkers, action is key
Instead of obsessing about finding the perfect way to start something, leave perfection aside and start anywhere.
When starting a long journey, a perfect first step isn't critical. If you stumble at the start of a marathon, it makes no difference. All that matters is that you've begun running.
454 SAVES
This is a professional note extracted from an online article.
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
IDEA EXTRACTED FROM:
4
Key Ideas
Most problems can be solved with simple solutions
Normally, things aren't as complicated as we want to make them out to be. Most problems have simple solutions. What adds complexity is the way we put into action these solutions.
To build wealth for instance, you must spend less than you earn. This is the fundamental rule of personal finance,
A variation of the optimization trap
The optimization trap is the belief that a few small adjustments have more impact than they actually do. Optimizing little things is usually a way for people to feel like they're doing something meaningful when they're actually avoiding big, scary moves that could truly make a difference.
Allowing perceived complexity to keep you from doing what you have to do is a variation of the optimization trap.
Why we overcomplicate things
We overcomplicate things at the start because we're scared to make big changes.
We're very complacent and comfortable with our lives at the moment, so instead of doing things that will have a big impact, we spend our time on details that don't matter.
For overthinkers, action is key
Instead of obsessing about finding the perfect way to start something, leave perfection aside and start anywhere.
When starting a long journey, a perfect first step isn't critical. If you stumble at the start of a marathon, it makes no difference. All that matters is that you've begun running.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
3
Key Ideas
Two types of people
- Those that can start things, but have trouble completing it.
- Those that can finish things, but have difficulty starting.
You probably have a bigger problem with one or the ...
Struggling to start
Dismissing every reason to start is perfectionism. It manifests as procrastination.
Forget about passion and needing something to be perfect. Just start and keep going.
Struggling to finish
Maybe you are brimming with options. You find it easy to take action on almost anything set in front of you. Your challenge is to find the time to do it all or to maintain the interest to keep going.
Don't wait until you feel like doing it. Take action regardless and enjoy your feelings if you also happen to "feel like it."
7
Key Ideas
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo Diet is an effort to go back to eating how we’re biologically designed to eat, allowing us to tap into our genetic potential and start living healthier immediately.
Lose weight on the Paleo Diet
- Eat fewer calories than you burn every day.
- Eat mostly real food if you want to be healthy.
- Do those two things consistently for a decade to KEEP the weight off.
When you only eat real food and avoid all unhealthy food, you’re more likely than not going to run a caloric deficit – and thus lose weight.
Eat the following:
- Meat – GRASS-FED, not grain-fed.
- Fowl – Chicken, duck, hen, turkey.
- Fish – Wild fish, as mercury and other toxins can be an issue in farmed fish
- Eggs – Omega-3 enriched cage free eggs.
- Vegetables – As long as they’re not deep-fried, eat as many as you want.
- Oils – Olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil – think natural.
- Fruits – Fruits have natural sugar, and can be higher in calories, so limit if you’re trying to lose weight.
- Nuts – High in calories, so they’re good for a snack only.
- Tubers – Sweet potatoes and yams. Higher in calories and carbs.
4 more ideas
4
Key Ideas
Learning vs comparing
Learning from others is great. But comparing your current situation to someone who is already successful can often make you feel like you lack the required resources to get started at all.
What is Optimal vs. what is Needed
Great gear can make your life much easier on the road, but it’s not required. You don’t need new cooking bowls to start eating healthy. And you don’t need a new backpack to start traveling.
one more idea
6
Key Ideas
Create the conditions to write
- Make the time for writing. We all have those absent-minded moments in our day when we're not doing anything. If we use that time to write, we can actually get a lot done...
There's no one "right" way to write
Some people plan ahead their and outline their novels, others just jump in a wing it.Experiment, start with something and see what works for you.
Try to show up for your characters. It's not important how you do it, as long as you do it.
Find your people
When you feel a bit stuck, and walking the dog or organizing the closet doesn't help, speak to a friend with a different way of thinking. Or talk to a friend who's writing a book.aaa
You don't just have to stick to friends. Reach out to other writers who can talk through any issue you're having with your book.
3 more ideas
6
Key Ideas
Emotions During a Difficult Conversation
It’s hard not to get worked up emotionally when you’re in a tense conversation: a disagreement can feel like a threat.
But if your body goes into “fight or flight” mode, ...
Breathe
When you start noticing yourself getting tense, try to focus on breathing (on feeling the air coming in and out of your lungs).
This will take your attention off the physical signs of panic and keep you centered.
Focus on your body
Sitting still when you’re having a difficult conversation can make the emotions build up rather than dissipate.
Standing up and walking around helps to activate the thinking part of your brain.
3 more ideas
2
Key Ideas
Mastering mindful mealtimes
- Cook or prepare food yourself if possible.
- Don’t scroll through social media when eating.
- Turn off all streaming services.
Intuitive eating
- It does not approve the diet culture.
- It respects all body shapes and sizes.
- It helps you recognize your body’s cues for hunger and fullness.
- It helps you evaluate habits you want to change, but without policing food.
- It helps you liberate from food’s control.
- It makes you see food as fuel rather than filler.
7
Key Ideas
Personal Or Core Values
They are what you consider most important in your life, literally what you “value. ” They are broad concepts that can be applied across a wide range of circumstances, as opposed to narrow answers t...
The Benefits Of Having a Core Value
- Having a core values list helps you make better decisions. The decisions you make come more quickly and efficiently than they would without it.
- Being unconscious of your core values makes you likely to keep repeating the same mistakes.
Creating a List Of Personal Values
The core values that are most valuable to each of us come from our own personal experience, not from being taught.
As you put them into practice you’ll get better at internalizing these values and they’ll express themselves subconsciously with smaller decisions, as well.
4 more ideas
8
Key Ideas
The essence of motivation
Every choice has a price, but when we are motivated, it is easier to bear the inconvenience of action than the pain of remaining the same.
In other words, at some point, it becomes more...
Active inspiration
Motivation is often the result of action, not the cause of it. Getting started, even in very small ways, is a form of active inspiration that naturally produces momentum.
The Physics of productivity
Newton’s First Law applied to habit formation: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion.
Once a task has begun, it is easier to continue moving it forward. In other words, it is often easier to finish a task than it was to start it in the first place.
5 more ideas
7
Key Ideas
Do Something
The simplest way to get out of a stuck mindset is to do something, anything.
Action is the biggest Motivation. Stop procrastinating and start engaging with the world.Pay the Costs
Recognize that everything you do has a cost decide if you're willing to pay it. Freebies and shortcuts do not work in the long run.
Ask yourself not what you want, but what you're willing to suffer for.
No One Really Cares
Few people actually care about you. Because you’re not as special as you think and also, most people are too concerned with themselves.
Use this piece of knowledge to liberate yourself and do what you want.
4 more ideas
3
Key Ideas
The biggest challenge to moving forward on anything
... is the transition to working on it. It almost always represents a shift from doing something comfortable to doing something uncomfortable.
We tend to think that getting tracti...
3 steps to transitioning
- Start with willpower. Willpower in a moment is much more reliable than willpower over long stretches of time (In some cases you just need to force yourself through a moment to get to the other side).
- Commit to repetition. Even if your mind starts protesting, ignore it and keep going.
- Benefit from adaptability. The mental and physical challenges will be so diminished, that you'll no longer experienced the transition as pain.
Get good at moving from comfort to discomfort
- Identify something important to you that you want to move ahead with.
- Identify the transition point to working on it. Examples of transition points are: Pick up the phone and dial (for a conversation); ask a question and then stop talking (for receiving feedback).
- Make the decision — set a time and place where you will get started (transition).
- Prime your emotional courage. Starting something hard will bring up feelings of discomfort and you will need to be prepared to feel things to move through it without stopping.
- Follow through without questioning.
- Repeat this every day.