When approaching a task, there are two options.
The first option is to just do it and the other option is to think about how to do it well.
This might sound easy, but it’s actually quite complicated.
Perspective and state of mind have a big impact on how the task is being executed.
Take a speaker for example. He can find himself searching for a word. He may be searching for a word his audience will understand or for a word that expresses most accurately what he wants to say. Both are important, But to be able to convey his message, the more important question is what he wants to say. That’s how he can serve his audience best, even if it means adding an explanation as to what the word means. He makes his audience happy by enabling himself to share his message, not by finding the words they find easier to understand.
Just do it means to share his message. Thinking about how to do it well would be to make it easy on others instead of making the effort to help them grasp his message.
Or take a greeting. These days, this continues to be quite a question. Unless one sees one another regularly it may not be clear what is comfortable for the other. In such moments, some will simply go ahead and hug the other explaining that it’s against all conventions, others will stay far apart and remain cautious assuming that that’s the way to greet during the pandemic. Actually, both these approaches may be the same. By deciding what it is that is the right way to greet the other, the reflection is focused on what feels right for the person acting. Just doing it, would be to be attentive to one another and take the signals allowing to come to a common conclusion. It’s staying in the process instead of controlling the process.
The goal isn’t to offer the most convenient or socially accepted greeting. The goal is to greet one another. Greeting one another is there to set up the relationship for the time that will be shared.
Just doing it, is acting with attention in the moment and with the confidence that one’s actions are welcome.
Thinking about how to do it well comes with the idea that mistakes will create a lot of trouble and may not be repairable.
Everyone can choose his or her perspective and step into the state of mind that it requires.
The choice, however, will have an impact on what one is expecting to happen.
