Today I was in a thinking mood and reached an interesting idea I wanted to share.
This isn't hard science, just brainstorming.
Let's entertain the assumption that there are two fundamentally different modes of cognition.
Proactive: thought generates action. The cycle goes thought, action, thought, and it builds momentum from the inside out.
Reactive: action generates thought. The cycle goes action, thought, action, and it builds momentum from contact with the world.
For a reactive person, a thought can itself be the action, so the loop transforms into thought, thought, thought. For the constant overthinkers here, does that look at least a bit familiar?
For a proactive person, action is already the thought, so the loop runs as action, action, action. They're moving before they've finished framing the move. The hustlers and "Just Do It" types probably see themselves here.
In the world of entrepreneurship, making money, and the general game of getting things done, the proactive mind wins by default. But what made me curious is this: is the reactive mind really losing, or do reactive people just struggle to apply it because the reactive mind is treated as something that should be fixed, not developed? (Please don't mistake the reactive mind with being a reactive person, or with monkey mind. Different things.)
Here's what I figured out.
The mistake reactive people make is hunting for the thought that finally sparks the action. Learn, scroll, think, until a plan arrives or some action gets found. And because the reactive mind can't apply the proactive playbook, either nothing works, or you end up in a multi-hour spiral of thinking with no outcome.
Instead of thinking your way to success, I think the strong mover is to train your RAS to hunt for actions that spark thought. Ideally small ones, already within reach. Pick up the tool. Send the message. Open the doc. Let the action do the cognitive work your brain was waiting on.
Curious if this resonates with anyone else, or if you think the dichotomy breaks down somewhere.
This isn't hard science, just brainstorming.
Let's entertain the assumption that there are two fundamentally different modes of cognition.
Proactive: thought generates action. The cycle goes thought, action, thought, and it builds momentum from the inside out.
Reactive: action generates thought. The cycle goes action, thought, action, and it builds momentum from contact with the world.
For a reactive person, a thought can itself be the action, so the loop transforms into thought, thought, thought. For the constant overthinkers here, does that look at least a bit familiar?
For a proactive person, action is already the thought, so the loop runs as action, action, action. They're moving before they've finished framing the move. The hustlers and "Just Do It" types probably see themselves here.
In the world of entrepreneurship, making money, and the general game of getting things done, the proactive mind wins by default. But what made me curious is this: is the reactive mind really losing, or do reactive people just struggle to apply it because the reactive mind is treated as something that should be fixed, not developed? (Please don't mistake the reactive mind with being a reactive person, or with monkey mind. Different things.)
Here's what I figured out.
The mistake reactive people make is hunting for the thought that finally sparks the action. Learn, scroll, think, until a plan arrives or some action gets found. And because the reactive mind can't apply the proactive playbook, either nothing works, or you end up in a multi-hour spiral of thinking with no outcome.
Instead of thinking your way to success, I think the strong mover is to train your RAS to hunt for actions that spark thought. Ideally small ones, already within reach. Pick up the tool. Send the message. Open the doc. Let the action do the cognitive work your brain was waiting on.
Curious if this resonates with anyone else, or if you think the dichotomy breaks down somewhere.
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