One thing that’s helped me over the course of the last 12 months is to stop overthinking things and just assume I’m right.

The problem

I used to spend a lot of time overthinking things... Is this the right way to do this? How did I do this in the past? How did this person do it? What if it fails? What if people make fun of me?

I would spend a lot of time trying to think of the perfect way forward, predicting the future and rehashing the past, and not a lot of time executing.

Doubt can be a real time-killer.

The solution

Assume I’m right, take action, then adjust if I’m wrong.

I pick the first (simple) solution that makes sense, I execute on it and then adjust if that solution that was incorrect.

I’ve found this approach to be much more effective for executing.

4 amazing benefits to this approach:

1. You don’t overthink things, which is great for taking action, learning and iterative improvement.
2. You have a chance of being right first go.
3. You can easily adjust if you were wrong.
4. It encourages a little bit of messiness, which can pull you out of your perfectionism bubble.

That’s it! Next time you find yourself second-guessing yourself, assume you’re right and execute!

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