Don’t Should All Over Yourself
You should start a podcast.
You should be doing more Instagram stories.
You should overhaul your website.
You should create a Facebook group.
You should host more webinars.
You should be on Vine! No, Snapchat! No, TikTok!
You should, you should, you should…
I should?
One of the drawbacks of living in this interconnected world full of easy-access information is that it comes with easy (and nonstop) access to other people’s opinions. Some great, a lot total shite. The challenge exists in parsing the gems from the steaming pile.
This can be especially dangerous territory for information-sponge introverts *raises hand* whose grey matter loves nothing more than to sop up new ideas, theories, research, case studies, testimonials, comparisons, reviews, and that-one-thing-that-one-guy-said-in-that-one-book-I-read-one-time…
The result of dousing our domes with info like it's free extra guac is having options—options that we want to think through before acting.
If there are always more options—and there are always more options—there’s very little movement. Either that or there’s a ton of movement but it all equates to a millimeter of progress in a million different directions. Zoom out to 30,000 feet and you won’t be able to spot any progress at all, just a strange little wiggly thing. If we want to have a real impact, we can’t be strange little wiggly things.
I’m not saying ignore the people who know what they’re talking about. Soak up everything you can from these people but don’t confuse knowledge-gathering with action. As much as my nerd brain is loath to admit it, there comes a point when more learning is just a socially acceptable procrastination tool. But if you’ve done your homework, it’s time to put in your earplugs.
Let me ask you, when it comes to that big idea, project, or business that you’re working so hard to get off the ground, what is your priority?
If you’ve started using both hands and a toe or two to keep count of them, consider this: the word “priority” came into the English lexicon in the late Middle Ages and existed in the singular form for FOUR HUNDRED YEARS. Four centuries where there was no such thing as “priorities,” only “priority.”
We’ve got to narrow it down. The inner skirmish that arises when we try to identify what the one most important thing is can be a real bastard. But battle him we must if we want to get things moving already.
Erase your inner chalkboard full o’should and ask yourself what is the most important thing that needs to happen now?
Do you need to sign up for that advanced coding course so you have the needed tools in your tool belt?
Do you need to pull the trigger already and publish the website you’ve been tinkering with for the last eight months?
Do you need to hire a designer to create a kickass logo?
Build infrastructure?
Automate systems?
Write your damn book instead of letting it rattle around inside your head like two tons of loose marbles?
Identify the most important thing you can do right now and ignore the shoulds being shouted from the peanut gallery. Who cares what a peanut thinks anyway?
Trust that you know what to do. Don’t should all over yourself.