23: Write when you are thinking too much

Thinking is fine but thinking too much kills your ability to act: it numbs and paralyzes you. Overthinking is the keyword here. You’re such a thinker. You’re so intelligent that you think about all those things.

Guess what? There is a time when thinking is only the start of your quest, when thinking is only the vehicle that drives you towards your destination, when it’s just a mean not the outcome.

Of course it hugely depends on your personality, context, relations and your whole concept of life what role thinking does take in your endeavors. I’m a fan of practicality (I hear my younger self laughing out loud now since as an 18 year old I was far from that mentality). Putting things into action. Moving wheels so it gets rolling and pushing myself because you can always go further. That’s my world today. It may change.

If you can still ask yourself “Have I reached my limit?” you haven’t reached your limit. Continue. — Twitter

Thinking is not the absence of being practical. It’s just another expression of it. The problem with thinking is its inherent abstract nature. It’s just not very tangible to have a thought. Writing it down makes it more tangible, at least legible or readable. Writing puts you into a clear mindset, makes your thoughts make sense.

What I’m doing here with my #weekdaykickoff series is writing every week-day so I stay sharp-minded. It’s my personal therapy. And since I have things to say to this world (so much), I share my personal therapy process.

I’m not insane. I’m preventing myself to become like that. Writing is a big instrument, very powerful. Writing even sells, as I will explain in my next workshop on a cruise crossing the Atlantic. Writing makes you move because moving your fingers is the primary physical expression of writing and therefore your direct connection to your thoughts.

You could say: Fingers are the instruments to play your thoughts.

The take-away from today: Stay mentally sharp and write every day. Yes, every day. In the great book “The Artist Way” I learnt about having morning pages where you brain dump what’s inside your head. “Shout, shout, let it all out” I hear Tears for Fears singing. Exactly. Write, write, let it all out. “I’m talking to you, come on…”.

This was episode 23 of the #weekdaykickoff. Every Monday-Friday morning. Colombian time. Until episode 5 I also audio-recorded on Anchor, you can find me there as “Alexander Kluge”.


Also published on Medium.

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