Stop Studying. Start Doing.

A friend sent me a guide called 'ChatGPT 101 (Beginner's Guide)' as she is new to it. It has neat sections about how to use it as teacher, a coach or an expert. It shows all the formats - tables, lists, summaries - and even included sample prompts to help you get started.

It was helpful. Practical, even. However, something struck me when I look at it: This is exactly what we do in life -- we study, understand, ruminate, but never really get in and do it.

We dance around the outskirts, never dare to tip our toes into the water, still measuring the temperature, still watching the waves, still guessing what's in the water...

Think about it:

• Before applying a new job, we research endlessly.

• Before learning a new skill, we watch videos after videos.

• Before doing anything at all, we study it to death.

Studying keeps us in control, but doing means stepping into the unknown. The more we study, the higher we float into the clouds of intellectualizing. We lose touch with the ground of actual experience - the solid living, the actual doing.

Whether it's mastering AI, starting a project, writing a story, learning a new skill, or changing your career, it doesn't come from thinking about it. It comes from doing it. Clicking the button. Writing the first line. Swinging the first golf ball. Saying yes to the role.

We don't need to know everything before we begin. It is in doing that we learn.

Dive in. Make mistakes. Fail. Adjust. Try again. That's where growth happens. That's how shift occurs. That's when you "suddenly" see yourself changed.