With ambitious goals comes challenges. When we have ambitious goals, we may incur obstacles and roadblocks. When we encounter these, our first instinct is to work through them or put energy towards the goal. For example, if our loved ones have a bad day or encounter an obstacle, our first instinct is to try to solve the issue. We want to quickly get past the issue. In reality, the best thing that you can do may actually be doing nothing. That’s right do nothing. Don’t even bring it up.

I was working on a project that did not yield the results that I would have liked. My first instinct was to stop what I was doing and try something else. I decided that I needed a timeout from that challenge. Once I understood what went wrong, I started to do nothing. I realized that I was too emotional and too raw to jump back into it.  This was not my natural instinct. My instinct was to put more effort and more resources into my venture. I decided that I was not going to do anything for about six weeks except learn and assess. 

In reality, I was taking action without taking direct action. Instead of jumping back into it, I reviewed some online videos, some courses, and some articles. I realized by doing nothing I needed to change my narrative about this project. I also needed to assess my role in the results. I realized my focus and my attention needed to be expanded. I also needed to enlist the assistance of my other team members. Lastly, I realized that I needed to have more fun with the process. There was no way I would come to that conclusion if I constantly focused on pressing onward.

In our society, we lost the art of doing nothing. We always want to do something and, when there is nothing to do, we pick up our cell phones to see what others are doing.  A great part of success is always striving for amazing and taking on challenges. I do this on daily basis. However, this can be exhausting. 

The number one benefit of doing nothing is that it allows you to take some of the emotion out of the situation. When you confront your challenges from a place of emotion, you want to find the simplest path. However, when you take time away from your challenges, you calm down, start basing your decision on logic, realize your mistakes, and so on.

When you encounter an issue, take time to do nothing, regroup, and think about the right path.

Summary:

When faced with a challenge, it is important to take a step back and give yourself time to assess and solve the problem. Without taking the valuable time to make sure you are thinking with clarity, you will not achieve amazing success.