Stop overthinking, start doing

It's been a chill week over here as we gear up for our Black Friday / Cyber Monday sale and plan our Thanksgiving menu. Lots of puzzle time, welcoming in the holiday season early this year (we all need a little joy, no?), and enjoying the Portuguese weather.

Regardless of whether you're in the U.S. celebrating Thanksgiving or if you're one of our many readers around the globe, we hope you take a little time this week to focus on gratitude. Even when times feel tough, there's always a little light to be found when you go looking. 💗

- Caroline and Jason

calm creator chronicles ✍️

Stop overthinking, start doing

👩🏻‍🦰👋: You know that piece of advice you’ve heard a thousand times but somehow keep forgetting?

For me, it’s this: everything good in my work started simple and messy.

I created my first online course using my computer’s webcam.

My first batch of art prints? They were printed off at Kinko’s before I even knew what a giclée print was.

I started posting my hand-lettered quotes on Instagram with a felt-tip pen and kid’s construction paper, which evolved into acrylic painting, which evolved into iPad painting, and eventually a book deal.

None of it was polished or optimized in the beginning—it was just done.

The problem is we live in a time now where the content and businesses most visible are the ones with the highest production value. The bar has been raised, and it’s easy to feel like you’re already falling behind before you even start.

YouTubers with 10 million subscribers do the podcast circuit giving advice on hooks and thumbnails and lighting and brand deals—and trust me, I eat up their advice just like everyone else.

But the truth? Most of that advice is about optimizing the last 5% of their craft. It’s the expert talking to the advanced. Meanwhile, beginners are left focusing on those 5% tweaks and forgetting the one thing that truly matters:

Getting started.

I love Ali Abdaal’s framework on this. He breaks it into three levels:

• Level 1: Get going

• Level 2: Get good

• Level 3: Get smart

If you’re just starting something, the only thing you need to worry about is step one: get going.

This is especially top of mind for me right now as I want to get back to posting on Instagram again, both on my art account (@ckelso) and our WAIM account (@wanderingaimfully).

I'm staring with my art account and this week I decided to stop overthinking it and just GET GOING. That means trying to post one piece of art at least every other day for a while. That’s it.

Whether or not I decide to make fancy process Reels…
Which content resonates with people and which doesn’t…
What my “unique format” is in order to stand out in a sea of content…

All of that can be figured out later.

Right now, it’s just about relearning the muscle memory of creating and sharing. Everything else is much easier to figure out once the wheels are moving.

⚡️ Taking action: What are you overthinking?

My question for you this week:

What are you currently overthinking in your business? Where are you worried about getting “good” or “smart” when all you need to be worried about right now is getting GOING.

I encourage you to think about how you can close out the year by diving into that thing and getting something made.

Publishing your first Substack newsletter. Finishing your simple landing page and sending it to a friend. Posting the TikTok. Filming the YouTube video. Putting up the buy link for your first digital product.

I’m telling you, there is so much power and momentum to be found in finally taking ACTION on the thing you’ve spent so long overthinking about.

Then, use that momentum to keep going until that muscle of creating is strong enough that you’re ready to “get good.

We got this! We can start before we’re ready! If I can do it, I know you can too.

​- Caroline 👩🏻‍🦰​