Last New Year’s Eve my husband & I took some time to compose and share our goals for 2015, (mine: 8-10 bullet points on my phone, his: an Excel spreadsheet with dependencies. deliverable dates, and probably a few pivot tables). Some of the goals were carried over from our 2014 lists, and we noticed a trend in our rationale for not making headway on those things: in an effort to make educated decisions, we do our homework, then revise our homework, then learn something new and revise it again…but, uhm… never turn it in. So many details researched, avenues explored, questions asked, but no final action taken. We decided to cook up a motto to get us out of that endless learning curve loop and what we came up with was: Action over Analysis. Of course keeping this motto in mind certainly doesn’t mean jumping into things without any analysis, it just means that once we understand the basics, we’ll move forward instead of hemming and hawing or indulging our perfectionist tendencies.
One of the goals that carried over from my 2014 list was for Tristan and I to officially launch Foto Rx which we had been working on for some time. As luck would have it, Tristan was mulling over a theme for the new year herself: Progress over Perfection. With our new symbiotic mantras in mind, we decided to dive (hearts full and heads strong) into launching Foto Rx. We are learning something new every day and fine-tuning the business as we go, which, it turns out, has been far more productive than trying to nail down every single detail before making our first move. There are still days filled with research and decision making, but whenever we get stuck, we remember our mantras and make the choice to favor momentum over inertia.
It’s amazing how a few simple words can help break habits that are holding you back. Do you have a motto or mantra? If not, you are welcome to ours – so far they are working wonders. Is there something you’d like to accomplish and have done your homework for, but haven’t actually made a move toward?
P.S. Tristan here, if you want to know how well this has worked for us, we created our first set of Photoshop actions over 3 years ago for a class we taught. A year late a huge blogger said we should sell them (we did nothing). We had about a zillion ideas in between that time (we believe most were good if not for us), but the moment we chose our mantras and decided to focus–again action/progress, we actually created something we are bonkers about, this works!
Miss Michelle P. is a photographer, and the co-creator of Foto Rx Premium Photoshop Actions. She lives in the Pacific Northwest. Her muse is light.
dear miss michelle, i had to laugh out loud as that trait is so totally me too … i am so much better at making quicker decisions for my design clients then i am for myself … but i research everything for them too … i too have been trying to move forward quicker once i reach a qualified decision … my great uncle used to say ‘a little bit everyday’ and as i get older i see the sum of the parts all come together and i get things accomplished …
Dawn, it’s the best of intentions, right? I’m decisive when it comes to clients too, funny how it’s so much easier to take action when it’s for someone else! “A little bit everyday” certainly does add up, thank you for sharing!
My husband and I just had a similar discussion. All talk and no do. This is a great idea and I think I’ll write it on our bathroom mirror so we can’t set it aside. Thanks so for sharing!!
Wendy, I love the idea of writing it on the bathroom mirror! It really helps me to have a visual reminder, hmmm – I think I’ll print out the graphic from this post to keep in my office. Thanks for the idea!
Love these mantras, ladies. I have been using Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Done is better than good” for the last year and have started an artists collective called DANK, mounted and exhibited work in 3 shows in two different spaces that both needed to be painted, designed graphics (not confident in) , and am about to pull the trigger on a long-term project I have been noodling for 4 years. I am so inspired by what you are creating and, as always, generously sharing along the way. Congratulations. Thank you and cheers to GSD — getting sh*t done.