You actions reveal your real values.
Two responses:
- Stop lying to yourself and admit your real priorities.
- Start doing what you say you want to do to see if it’s really true.
Overthinking is a loop. Break the loop by:
- Stop storytelling. Stop trying to figure it out. Behavior comes from competing subsystems, not unified decisions. E.g. use emotions for social cues, logic for planning, etc. Don’t force agreement between systems. The narrator creates coherent stories after actions happen to maintain the illusion of control – the biggest illusion in life.
- Act anyway. Build trigger-action systems that bypass willpower. Build systems and environments instead of motivation.
- Track results. Log behavior. Measure outcomes. What was the action, what feelings did it lead to? Treat desire as data to track, not a mystery.
- Adjust & Repeat. Don’t explain what you want. Optimize for getting it anyway. Desire is input, not mystery. Identity is response patterns in context. Optimize for results, not self-concept. Track what works. Build around actual tendencies. Operate first. Narrate only if useful.
No self. No why. Just what works.
Taoism gets closest (video source)
The purpose of thinking is action, not more thinking.
Related
- procrastination
- perfectionism
- dopamine balance to be happy
- happiness = Setpoints + Conditions + Actions (Relationships & Flow)
- growth-mindset
- simplicity
- universe
- time
The Process
- Ground yourself to align (elephant, king)
- Free yourself to simplify (crow, magician)
- Accept yourself to play (dog, lover)
- Choose yourself to create (tiger, warrior)
EARTH 🐂
Integrity - Unshakable alignment of thought, word, and action.
- Ground myself in being alive, here, now. That’s enough.
- Own everything. Stand firm.
- Reciprocate the love life gives.
- Align thoughts, words, and actions — especially when it’s hard.
AIR 🐦⬛
Clarity - Undistorted perception and lightness of mind.
- Free myself from illusion – past stories, future destinations.
- Question everything. Nothing is sacred.
- Adapt fluidly to new data.
- Simplify to only the signals that matter (e.g. love).
WATER 🐶
Presence - Full surrender to the moment, feel everything, resist nothing.
- Accept what is, not what should be.
- Feel deeply. Let all sensations come and go.
- Open myself up to experience with total vulnerability
- Play, experience joy, and connect with others.
FIRE 🐯
Courage - Willingness to act through fear. Consistent, bold creation of life.
- Choose what you want, ignore fear/doubt/uncertainty/permission/proof.
- Initiate action, go first, lead the way, hesitation kills.
- Burn with max intensity, full send, all-in, no holding back, shoot the shot.
- Create life through steady, wild, rhythmic energy.