The Speed of Thinking vs. The Speed of Doing

The speed of thinking is a lot faster than the speed of doing. You can daydream a kingdom, accomplishments, change, or achievement in a second. This thinking makes you feel good. There is a shadow sensation of accomplishment. This feel-good moment is the exact opposite of the mental trudge towards the finish line.

Once your brain gets to the speed of thinking, it is hard for it to slow down. Your brain doesn’t like slowing down. It feels inefficient, slow, like a waste of time. This is a killer when doing anything meaningful requires you to slow down. Nothing is done as quickly as you can dream it up. It’s a lot scarier to take it slow. So you just don’t.

Especially when the work gets hard, it’s so much easier to dream your way out of it. Critical thought is required to set your course, but once that course is set, thinking often prevents you from starting more than it does propel you.

So when you’re stuck, think about what speed you’re operating on. Are you operating at the speed of thinking, or the speed of doing. Take the time to slow to the speed where the real work gets done.