You don’t think your way out of a challenge; action is the only way out.

You have probably heard this advice, perhaps from the motivational speaker Mel Robbins:

“Thinking about something is not the same as doing it. Get out of your head and start taking action. It doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to have all the answers. Just start.”

For me, that lesson crystallized during a career transition in my early years as a manager. I was to lead a strategic initiative from the ground up, one that I had actively sought. As I got closer to launching the project, excitement gave way to panic.

I had moved to a new organization. I wasn’t a domain expert. And as a manager, I was expected to set direction and lead a team of technical experts.

After a few days of catastrophizing, I realized it couldn’t wait any longer. I made my way to the local coffeehouse, with two of the leading technical papers on the topic in hand.

A few hours later, something shifted.

Ideas started forming. Questions emerged; the kind that would push technical discussions forward. Better questions for stakeholders and a clearer framing of the problem.

It wasn’t a master plan. But it was momentum that cut through self-doubt faster than any amount of analysis ever could.

Sometimes the breakthrough doesn’t come from thinking harder, it comes from taking that first step.

Read the paper. Write the first draft. Prototype the ugly version. Schedule the difficult conversation.

That afternoon in a coffeehouse wasn’t just about understanding a new domain.

It was about relearning a career-long lesson:
You don’t need certainty to begin. You need movement..