Action Relieves Anxiety, So Get off Your Hiney and Do The Thing!

I listened to a Mel Robbins podcast this morning where she interviewed James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. Right out of the gate he starts with “action relieves anxiety.” And there it is. I’m done. That is 100% true! I mean, that might be one of the truest sentences ever written for freelancers. I know it applies to my life!

I think a lot of anxiety comes from the time period before we begin.

The audition sitting in your inbox, with the specs that feel like a stew. That follow-up email you keep rewriting.Or the marketing post you’re afraid sounds awkward and just…eeeewwww.

Maybe that’s why the phrase “action relieves anxiety” hits so hard. We’ve all lived it.

I’ve had days where I spent far more time and energy worrying about a task than it would’ve taken to simply do it. And once you’ve stalled progress with one excuse, why not more? In fact, it brings a friend next time, and then maybe two friends. Until suddenly you’re sitting in a full-on pity party with unfinished tasks blocking every exit.

But the good news is the action itself is rarely as painful as the anticipation.

I can overthink an audition for an hour…or I can step into the booth and record it.

I can stress about who to contact about voicework…or I can pick up the phone and ask.

I can wait until everything feels polished and perfect…or I can move forward while it’s still a little messy.

One small action reminds you that you’re not actually stuck. You’re Learning. Adjusting. Moving forward. DOING SOMETHING! Because action relieves anxiety in a way overthinking never will.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the confidence to act came first? Yeah. No dice my friend. In business, and definitely in life, confidence shows up after action, not before it.

Sometimes the hardest part of the day is simply starting. And sometimes starting is enough to change the entire direction of it. In this interview James went on to talk about how you should envision where you want to be, and then reverse engineer aaallllll the little steps you would take to get there. Break those steps down to their absolutely most miniscule actions. 

If you do one of those every day, imagine how you’ll have grown in 10 years. Heck in two!

What’s something you’ve been putting off that, when done, might leave you feeling less stressed, and a teeny bit closer to your goals once you finally take the first step?