Just Do It
13 years ago I wrote my first ever article, "Do".
It tells the story of how my mother became really good at Counter Strike.
I'm not kidding.
But less about my mother. I want to talk about a murderer.
In 1977, facing a firing squad, Gary Gilmore was asked for his last words.
"Let's do it."
11 years later, Nike used Gilmore's answer as inspiration for their infamous "Just Do It" tagline.
An unusual inspiration, perhaps, but the tagline itself is close to perfect.
In his recent book, Meditations for Mortals, Oliver Burkeman refers to taking action as taking a leap of faith.
A leap of faith because "just doing" the thing often feels like taking a road you haven't yet confirmed is the right one.
But wait, how can you know unless you go down it and find out?
❝ Just go to the gym right now? But what will I train? How? What will I need?
❝ Just start building the project? But what is it? Where's the design?
❝ Just write the article? But my thoughts aren't clear yet. I need to think first.
The advice "Just Do It" is powerful because it demands you ignore all of the things making you uncomfortable – the risks, the unknowns, the fear of failure, the cost of starting. All of them. Just start.
To "just do it" is to put yourself into action regardless. Not to plan how you might act. Not to dream about what action will feel or look like. Not to wait until you know where it'll take you.
In any moment you can either be doing or not doing.
Sometimes we have to stop, rest, eat and sleep. Outside of that, being in the game, playing, learning, improving and producing outcomes requires action.
Start the project despite not knowing exactly how. Begin learning the language despite not knowing how best to go about it. Go to the gym instead of ordering new gym clothes and planning your workout splits.
I started writing this article without a clue of what I'd write.
A good leader is someone who finds a way to take action. In action, they produce outcomes. Negative outcomes become lessons. The leader learns, improves and course corrects. Positive outcomes are results. They accrue.
Be a good leader for yourself. Take the leap of faith and "Just Do It".
What can you just start doing right this very second?