You know that person who’s always "launching" something but never actually ships? We all do. Maybe you’ve even been that person. I have. It’s easy to get drunk on the dopamine of a good brainstorming session. Talking about your goals feels surprisingly similar to actually achieving them, at least to your brain’s reward centers. But eventually, the buzz wears off, and you’re standing in the same spot you were six months ago. The hard truth is that a little less talk and a lot more action isn’t just a catchy country lyric; it’s the fundamental dividing line between people who have stories and people who have results.
Execution is boring. It’s quiet. It doesn't get the "likes" that a flashy announcement post does. While you’re busy crafting the perfect "Coming Soon" graphic, someone else is in the trenches doing the unglamorous work that nobody sees.
The Psychology of Why We Talk Instead of Do
Why do we do this? Science points to something called "social reality." When you tell people your intentions, and they acknowledge them, your brain starts to believe the goal is already reached. Researcher Peter Gollwitzer has spent years studying this. His work suggests that publicizing your goals can actually make you less likely to achieve them because you’ve already felt the satisfaction of being "that guy" who does the thing. You’ve cashed the check before doing the work.
Honestly, it’s a trap.
You spend four hours researching the best running shoes and another two hours planning the perfect route on Strava. By the time you’re done, you feel like an athlete. But you haven't actually broken a sweat. The friction of real life—the sore muscles, the rain, the sheer boredom of the third mile—doesn't exist in your head. It only exists in the action. We talk because talking is safe. Action is where you can fail. Action is where the world talks back and tells you that your idea might actually suck.
The Feedback Loop of Silence
There’s a certain power in staying quiet. When you stop announcing every move, you create a vacuum that can only be filled by results. Think about the most effective people you know. They usually show up with the finished product rather than a slide deck of what they plan to do.
This isn't about being a hermit. It’s about shifting the ratio. If your "talk-to-action" ratio is 10:1, you’re a dreamer. If you can flip that to 1:10, you’re a machine. It’s basically about protecting your energy. Every time you explain your vision to someone who hasn't earned the right to hear it, you leak a little bit of the fire you need to actually build the thing.
Moving Toward a Little Less Talk and a Lot More Action
So, how do you actually stop the cycle? You have to embrace the "Shitty First Draft" mentality popularized by Anne Lamott. Most people talk because they’re afraid the action won’t be perfect. If you talk about it, it stays perfect in your mind. If you do it, it’s probably going to be a bit of a mess at first.
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That mess is where the growth is.
- Stop asking for permission. You don't need a focus group for your hobby.
- Shrink the timeline. If you think it’ll take a month, try to do a version of it by Friday.
- The "One-Hour" Rule. Don't talk about a project until you've put at least ten hours of focused, silent work into it.
- Log your output, not your ideas. Ideas are cheap. Words written, miles run, or calls made are the only metrics that matter.
The world is noisy enough. Everyone has an opinion, a podcast, or a Twitter thread about how things should be done. Very few people are actually doing them. When you commit to a little less talk and a lot more action, you immediately stand out because you become reliable. People start to notice that when you do speak, it’s backed by the weight of something real.
The Cost of the "Announcement Culture"
We live in an era where "building in public" is a huge trend. And look, there’s value in transparency. But there’s a massive difference between showing your process and performing your process. One is helpful; the other is just theater.
If you're spending more time editing the video of you working than actually working, you've lost the plot. The "action" part of the equation has become a prop for the "talk" part. This leads to burnout because you’re maintaining an image of productivity without the actual foundation of it. It’s exhausting to pretend to be busy. It’s actually much easier to just be busy.
Practical Steps to Build an Action Bias
Getting started is usually the hardest part because we over-intellectualize the beginning. We want the "perfect" setup. We want the stars to align. Spoilers: they won't.
1. Kill the "Research" Phase
Research is often just procrastination in a lab coat. You don't need to read ten books on keto before you stop eating sugar. You don't need to watch 50 hours of YouTube tutorials on woodworking before you buy a piece of pine and a saw. Give yourself a hard cap. Two hours of research, then one hour of doing. If you can't do that, you're just a fan, not a practitioner.
2. Use the "Two-Minute" Rule
David Allen, the Getting Things Done guy, hit the nail on the head with this. If something takes less than two minutes, just do it. Don't add it to a list. Don't talk about how you need to do it. Just finish it. This builds a "finisher" identity. You start to see yourself as someone who handles things, not someone who piles things up.
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3. Lower the Stakes
We talk a lot when we feel the pressure of a "big" goal. "I'm going to write a novel" is a heavy sentence. It's hard to act on. "I'm going to write 200 words of garbage before coffee" is actionable. It's so small it’s almost impossible to fail at. Action thrives on low stakes. When the stakes are low, you don't need to talk yourself into it. You just move.
4. Find an "Action" Peer
Most people are "talk" peers. They want to grab a coffee and "pick your brain" or "collab" (which usually just means talking more). Find the person who sends you a text saying, "I finished that thing we discussed," and then nothing else. Those are the people you want to stay close to. Their energy is infectious.
Real-World Examples of Doing Over Saying
Look at the history of most successful ventures. They didn't start with a massive PR campaign.
The founders of Airbnb didn't spend three years talking about the "future of the sharing economy." They were broke and needed rent money, so they put some air mattresses in their living room and made a basic website. They took action because they had to. The "talk" (the vision, the brand, the philosophy) came much later, after they had proven the concept worked.
Compare that to the thousands of startups that have beautiful offices, "Chief Visionary Officers," and massive amounts of venture capital talk, but no actual product that anyone wants to use. They have a lot of talk and very little action. And they usually disappear within 18 months.
Even in fitness, the guy with the most expensive gear and the most detailed workout spreadsheet is rarely the strongest guy in the gym. The strongest guy is usually the one in the beat-up t-shirt who has been consistently lifting heavy stuff for five years without making a big deal about it. He’s not talking about his "fitness journey." He’s just training.
The Quiet Satisfaction of Getting it Done
There is a specific kind of confidence that comes from execution. It’s different from the "fake it till you make it" bravado. It’s a quiet, internal knowledge that you can handle a task from start to finish. When you prioritize a little less talk and a lot more action, your anxiety levels usually drop. Why? Because most anxiety comes from the gap between what you know you should be doing and what you're actually doing.
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Closing that gap is the only real cure.
It’s also about respect. People stop listening to the person who is all talk. Their words lose their value. But when the person who rarely "announces" anything finally says, "I have something to show you," everyone leans in. That’s the position of power.
Actionable Takeaways for This Week
Don't just read this and think, "Yeah, that makes sense," and then go talk to your friend about how you read a great article on taking action. That would be ironic. Do this instead:
- Identify one project you’ve been "talking" about for more than a month.
- Declare a "Blackout." Don't mention that project to a single soul for the next two weeks.
- Set a "Minimum Effective Dose." Commit to 15 minutes of work on it every single day. No excuses.
- Ship something imperfect. Post the blog, send the email, or build the prototype.
The goal isn't to never talk. Communication is vital for humans. The goal is to make sure your actions are loud enough that you don't need to shout. Let your results do the heavy lifting for you. It’s a much more sustainable way to live, and honestly, it’s a lot more fun to actually win than to just talk about what winning might feel like.
Focus on the work. The rest is just noise.
Next Steps: Pick the one task you've been avoiding because it's "too big" and break it down into a five-minute action you can do right now. Put your phone away, close the laptop tabs that aren't related to that task, and finish it before you do anything else today. Success is found in the repetitive, boring execution of small tasks over a long period. Start your first five minutes now.