“Fuck it, let’s do it.”
The magical power of making decisions.
A good decision must well be contemplated.
Right?
Wrong.
More often than not, it doesn’t matter what decision you make — you just need to make one.
In our business, we’ve had an issue with our operations for quite a while. It’s not like they don’t work — they get the job done. But they’re, along with some of our marketing, the biggest bottleneck that we have. We’ve known that for a while — yet we have never changed anything about it.
We’ve had lots of ideas: re-create our landing page, start using content marketing, open up new channels. But we’ve never really pulled through on any of these measures, despite trying a few. We’re still doing the same that we did two years ago.
Why?
Because we weren’t decisive. We didn’t decide and commit. We always tabled the decision on what to do next. We never made a decision in the first place.
We didn’t say “fuck it, let’s do it”. And that was, in retrospective, probably one of the biggest business mistakes we’ve made in the past years.
During my travels to Georgia a month ago, I met a girl from France: energetic, well-traveled, and eager to explore. She asked me: “hey, do you want to go to Tskaltubo tomorrow?”
What the hell is a Tskaltubo?
Turns out, Tskaltubo is an abandoned city about 30 minutes outside of Kutaissi, the 3rd largest town of Georgia. It used to be a spa center for the Soviet Union, with plenty of magnificent baths and hotels.
After the Soviet Union fell, nobody came to Tskaltubo anymore. And now, all those bathhouses and hotels are abandoned — and accessible to anyone who is willing to walk in there.
That was a little outside of my comfort zone. Hitchhiking to and from a random city to walk around in abandoned buildings? The German inside of me thought about the safety of the buildings, whether I would break any laws by entering these buildings, if there are seatbelts in Georgian cars, and so on. After all, we like to live according to the “Vorschrift” (rule, norm).
Then, I remembered why I got on the plane to Georgia in the first place: to leave my comfort zone.
I looked at the French girl and said with a smile: “fuck it, let’s do it”.
It was awesome:
During high school, I spent a year in North Carolina. Around Christmas time, a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to play Lacrosse.
Lacrosse, huh. Isn’t that the brand with the crocodile?
He proceeded to explain to me that essentially you get the beat the shit out of each other with metal sticks.
That sounded fun. I had a already built a good relationship with the tennis coach, but well, I didn’t really like tennis anyway, despite playing for 6 years.
“Fuck it”, I thought. “Let’s do it.”
10 years later, I still spend around 6 days a week doing lacrosse-related activities. I love it. There is nothing better than practicing hard with your best friends after a tough day at work. The community is incredible. The sport taught me a lot about myself, and is probably the primary reason why I am where I am today.
Best decision I’ve made in my life.
What do all these stories have in common? In the first one, we contemplated a lot and never made a decision — which turned out to be a mistake. In the other two, I just made a snap decision — and it was awesome.
Stop overthinking. Chances are, you will be alive after no matter what you decide. The only thing holding you back is the unwillingness to make a decision.
- What should you have for dinner? I don’t give a shit, and neither do you probably. Just make a decision. Pasta with tomato sauce? Fuck it, let’s do it.
- What should you wear today? 85% of people won’t even notice if you’re wearing red or white sneakers. Just make a decision. The white ones? Fuck it, let’s do it.
- Should you go to that concert tonight? Yes. Fuck it, just do it. What are you waiting for?
The list goes on and on. The worst times in life are the ones when you’re torturing yourself with a decision.
Which train should I take? Where should I go on vacation? With whom should I go out Saturday night?
It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is that you decide.
Most decisions don’t need contemplation. They just need to be made.
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