For many years, when I would want to make positive change in my life, I’d start by gathering a bunch of content on the topic and immerse myself in the information. Books, blog posts, youtube videos, podcasts, etc. For example, let’s say I wanted to start weightlifting or meditating or starting a business. I’d consume all the information I could find, and then once I began to feel like I was nearly an expert, I would make my plan to put my newfound knowledge into action. And it never worked. I would never actually DO the thing that I had learned about. Of course, this felt terrible. It was worse than never diving into the topic at all, because now I knew so much about how to do the thing I wanted to do, there was nowhere to hide from the shame of not doing it.

Eventually I realized that all my research was really just a form of disguised procrastination. I was tricking myself into thinking that I was doing something, that I was moving closer to my goals, but I wasn’t DOING anything at all.

At some point I realized that I was approaching the process completely backwards. I was trying to change my behavior (my mind) with my mind, expecting that would lead to me actually taking the action. But that was wrong. I needed to start with my body, and my mind would follow.

For example, if I wanted to become someone who cared about fitness, reading a bunch of fitness blogs or watching youtube videos was a fool’s errand. What I needed was to just do some damn push-ups. Just do the thing. The fastest and most effective to change what you think is to take physical action in the direction you want your mind to go.

This approach is especially hard for me because I have a tendency to feel foolish doing anything new where I don’t know the “right” way to do it. Like so many other things, I’m guessing this comes from some childhood era insecurity. Recognizing this was the first hurdle in making actual positive change in my life.

I’ve taken this approach to adopt healthy habits like fitness, as well as more profound topics like my own spirituality. I found myself in a bit of a spiritual rut; not necessarily unhappy with what I believed, but rather that I didn’t seem to find the time or space in my day to even think about. I wanted to be the type of person who thought about these things. I wanted to have a perspective on life beyond the material world surrounding us. I’d been raised Catholic, but it had been many years since I went to church, and I wasn’t sure if the Catholic church was the best place for me.

My initial instinct was to start reading about the topic, but instead, I forced myself to just DO the thing. I didn’t worry about if the denomination had the exact combination of beliefs I liked best, or if the parish was the best one in my area. We just did it. My wife and I brought our kids to mass where my parents attended. I wasn’t sure if it was the right fit at first, but now a year later, and I can conclusively say that God is bigger part of my life now than in the many years prior. I find myself thinking about God and what He holds for us beyond our day-to-day lives. I feel more fulfilled. I’m grateful for the abundance in my life.

I think this approach of action first can be applied to just about anything. I still have to fight the urge to procrastinate via “learning” and I imagine I always will. I’m constantly reminding myself to DO IT NOW. TAKE ACTION. The body does not follow the brain. The brain follows the body.