How to Trick Yourself Into Doing Things You Hate

For many people, inertia, laziness, fear, procrastination, self-doubt, endless debating and analyzing, second-guessing, “planning,” and self-sabotage are the default. But for those with an action bias, taking a step forward is the thing that happens automatically, to the extent that it takes effort not to act.

taking action is such a good idea and so easy to do, then why don’t we do it more often?

There are many answers to this question, but most of it comes down to anxiety. We feel like we don’t yet know enough to act, we’re afraid of the outcome, or we’re worried there’s a risk we haven’t prepared for. We feel we don’t have enough authority or clarity or ability to act.

Do something small now, see where it lands you

Set a roadmap of actions you will take and when, but don’t get trapped in the planning phase. Break big goals down into smaller ones and keep each point on the journey focused on concrete things you can do. This is very different from aimless “research” that goes nowhere.

Create a Plan . . . After You’ve Broken Your Inertia

While you’re stuck gathering more and more data, you could have acted, failed, come back to the drawing board, and refined your position—perhaps many times over.

One possible objection to the above: What if you don’t know how much information is actually out there in the first place? Well, let go of the idea of getting “all the facts.” It’s impossible. Instead, focus on the crucial bits of information that you need, and then deliberately aim to be satisfied with 70 percent of that, and then act despite not knowing all the details. You will minimize risk while still being decisive

Gather Data, But Just Enough

Instead of asking yourself about all the many reasons you can’t or shouldn’t act, focus instead on asking: What thing can I do right now? Counter-intuitively, this is often the lowest pressure, least anxiety-provoking state to be in.

Do something small now, see where it lands you, and go from there. This is the essence of a bias for action. We no longer see action as some final outcome of a process, but rather the necessary first step of every process. When in doubt, do.