I’ve been thinking about how much we overcomplicate everything. You know what I mean, right? Those times when you have a goal, a task, an idea, and instead of just doing the thing, you create this whole mental maze of reasons why you can’t. It’s like we have this talent for building roadblocks out of thin air.
The other day, I caught myself doing it. I was sitting there, staring at this project I’ve been avoiding for weeks, and I heard the excuse forming in my head. “It’s not the right time.” Or maybe it was, “I don’t know how to start.” Something generic but oddly convincing—like a rerun of a bad sitcom you’ve seen too many times. And the worst part? I almost believed it.
Why do we do this to ourselves? We turn molehills into mountains. We treat small, doable tasks like they’re epic battles in some kind of ancient saga. But they’re not. They’re just tasks. Send the email. Make the call. Write the words. There’s no dragon guarding the gate, no curse waiting to fall on you if you fail. It’s just you, standing in your own way, holding the door shut with both hands and pretending it’s locked.
I think part of it is fear. Not of the thing itself, but of what it represents. Like, if I don’t try, then I can’t fail, right? If I avoid it long enough, maybe it’ll magically resolve itself, or I’ll get a free pass from the universe. But deep down, we know that’s not how it works. You don’t get the reward without the effort, and avoiding the effort just stretches out the pain.
The funny thing is, when you finally stop overthinking and just start—when you actually do the thing—it’s rarely as hard as you’ve made it out to be. The mountain shrinks back into a molehill. You realize the dragon was just a shadow. And you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
I think about all the times I’ve let small obstacles snowball into something huge and ridiculous. Like that time I didn’t update my resume for months because I told myself it didn’t matter, only to panic when a great opportunity came up and I wasn’t ready. Or the weeks I spent avoiding a difficult conversation with a friend, replaying imaginary arguments in my head, only to find out they’d been feeling the exact same way and were relieved when I brought it up.
It’s not the challenge itself that’s exhausting. It’s the weight of carrying it around, pretending it’s bigger than it is.
And the worst part? We’re so damn good at it. We invent entire storylines to justify our avoidance. “I’m too busy.” “It’s not the right time.” “I’ll figure it out later.” These aren’t reasons; they’re excuses. Elegant little lies we tell ourselves to keep the status quo intact.
But what if you just… didn’t? What if you stopped overcomplicating things and just leaned into the discomfort? Not all at once, not in some grand, dramatic way, but in the small, messy, unremarkable way that real change usually happens.
It’s funny—I don’t remember half the things I’ve accomplished in my life. The big wins, the successes, even the ones I was proud of at the time, they fade. But I remember the obstacles I built for myself, the times I stood in my own way. They stick. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it’s a reminder that the biggest challenge isn’t the task, the goal, the problem—it’s you.
I don’t know. Maybe this is just me rambling to myself. Or maybe you’ve been sitting on something, too, waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect mindset, the perfect set of circumstances to finally start. And maybe you need to hear this: there’s no perfect moment. There’s just now.
If this hits home, maybe take a minute to think about what you’ve been avoiding. And if you want to hear me go on about this more, there’s a video where I explore these ideas. But honestly? You already know what you need to do. Just start.
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