Too smart to start: Why intelligent people don’t accomplish things.

The biggest roadblock I’m noticing in myself right now is completely psychological.

Today, I actually find myself in a place where I have everything I need in terms of physical resources, knowledge, skill, and the foresight to think ahead. I’ve got a lifestyle that supports the pursuit of my goals, and I have relationships with people who are cheering me on.

There should be nothing left but to “do the work,” right?

For some folks, maybe. For me, however, there’s been some unpacking needed. Here are some of the psychological obstacles I’ve faced as of late:

Hyper-fixation on outcomes (even micro-outcomes). 

This is a pattern that constantly hooks on to what could be as a result of a particular action. It’s based in the desire to skip the practical steps of doing great work  (ex. trial, failure, refinement, etc), and get right to the end result. This mindset treats every unit of work as a means to an end. This creates a hamster wheel of constantly burning productive energy on the thought of actualizing a certain outcome, but extracts energy from the process. This brings me to the next point.

“Mental masturbation”

Getting lost in (and dopamine supplied by) the daydreams of what I’m going to accomplish, who I’m going to be, and what I’m going to do, in some vague future. Though sometimes this visualization can be beneficial, if I find myself spending more time in this state of daydream than actually working, there’s a problem. There is a balance to find when practicing visualization. Be sure to let your visions be punctuated by action.

Image preservation (fear of failure):

I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, mental masturbation comes from an underlying fear of failure. It feels safer to stay frozen in time and think about the future rather than take steps to really bring it about. From the vantage point of pre-execution, all potentials are possible and there is no failure on the horizon. It’s when you actually start taking steps that the possibility for failure becomes more visible. Why move forward when I can just lay here and shower myself in thoughts of the ideal future?

Dopamine withdrawal:

Disconnecting from lateral stimuli in order to dive deep into doing one action craftily is an essential skill for high achievers. Unfortunately, I’m going to take a stab at the school system for this one. I was a 4.2 student, student body president of my highschool, and overall “smart” kid. However, I was smart by the system’s standard. I was able to juggle my AP and IB assignments, crush deadlines, and find ways to somehow get essays, projects, investigations, readings and art pieces complete in short time frames. 

I learned to divide my attention in many directions and found shortcuts to make progress in 6 different areas simultaneously. Though this skill made college feel like summer camp (affording me Summa Cum Laude and the ability to graduate with two degrees in three years), this refined ability to finesse did not teach me how to dive deep and exclusively focus on one thing for days or weeks on end.

Now, as a content writer and creative producer, I have big projects that require my sustained time and attention. I manage to find the time. I struggle to find the attention. Even if it’s the single most important thing to move the needle forward, doing one thing feels foreign to my overactive mind. (For anyone struggling with this, Gary Keller’s “The One Thing” is great medicine.)

Things I’m learning about myself.

I want to produce valuable things at a high level, and I know other people do too. So, I dedicate lots of time to self-observation and finding ways to optimize my level of valuable output.

I thrive when I create structures for myself. This includes routines, rituals, but most importantly, setting things up in advance so that there is no friction to start a desired action. I am both motivated and excited to carry out a particular behavior if past-me has set everything up to get started.

I can’t resist an easy lay-up.

I also find the motivation and focus to do anything if it’s under a strict deadline by an external force. An essay due tomorrow? I somehow find the focus to work on something for 8 hours straight with no meal breaks. It’s why I did so well at school, and it’s why I can perform well at my job. Self-directed assignments and entrepreneurial pursuits, however, sometimes get less tenacity from me. I predict that now it’s time for me to find a network of accountability partners who can apply some external force on my work habits.

Keep going despite inconveniences.

If you suffer from mental roadblocks of your own, consider it a gift. The process of unpacking this obstacle will award you jewels and a level of personal autonomy that you can’t imagine right now.

Keep going and continue to unpack, as reflection, awareness, and inner-work precedes meaningful output.

It’s about more than doing the work with blunt force.

— Dezzy

There’s more to explore.

I make content to help people identify the mental blockages that prevent them from doing great work.

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