Knowing isn’t doing. Deciding isn’t doing. Doing is doing.
Originally written in 2010. Remastered in 2026.
So My First Time…
Have you ever wanted to do something for a long time, but somehow never got around to doing it?
That was me.
After years of researching and studying internet marketing, I finally found the courage to start this blog.
The more i learned, the more i realized how little i knew.
What was even more incredible was that i had waited so long to do something so simple.
Sometimes, the hardest part isn’t knowing what to do.
It’s simply doing it for the first time.
The First Step
For most things in life, the first time is almost always the hardest.
We hesitate.
We overthink.
We wonder whether we are ready.
We worry about what others might think.
And sometimes, we are so busy preparing that we never actually begin.
i believe one of the biggest things that stops us in our tracks is fear of failure.
People sometimes say:
“If you don’t try, you’ll never fail.”
i say:
“You will always fail if you don’t try.”
Because not trying doesn’t mean you succeeded.
It simply means you never gave yourself the opportunity to find out what could have happened.
There is also another fear that doesn’t get talked about as much:
Fear of success.
What if I become successful? How long can it last? What happens next?
Nobody knows.
The future is full of uncertainty, and change is the only constant.
But perhaps that is exactly why we shouldn’t wait for certainty before taking action.
If we don’t choose the direction of our life, we may eventually find ourselves somewhere we never intended to go.
Sometimes, We Know Too Much
i used to have endless ideas about productivity, self-improvement, and making life better.
And yet i could still find myself worrying about what i should write, which topic i should choose, how the content should be structured, and what should come next.
Eventually, i had to reframe the situation:
This is my blog.
i make the decisions.
i don’t have to get everything right.
i just have to start.
And i can get better along the way.
That realization applies to far more than blogging.
Sometimes, we don’t need more information.
We just need to stop preparing and start experimenting.
The Problem Isn’t Always the Problem
When we find ourselves unable to take action, it is worth asking:
What is really stopping me?
Is it fear?
Doubt?
Lack of knowledge?
Lack of resources?
Perfectionism?
A lack of motivation?
Or have i simply become comfortable where i am?
We can’t solve a problem properly until we understand what is really causing it.
And sometimes it helps to step outside ourselves and look at the situation objectively, almost as if we were advising someone else.
Without the negative suggestions we give ourselves.
Without the excuses we would never accept if someone else said them.
Without all the stories we tell ourselves – stories we would easily question if a friend told them to us.
We often know ourselves best, and yet that can be the problem.
We can see clearly what others should do in the same situation, but somehow fail to take our own advice.
Once we understand what is actually holding us back, we can start doing something about it.
Knowledge, Means & Will
There is a simple way to look at this.
For anything we want to accomplish, we generally need three things:
- Knowledge: knowing what to do and how to do it.
- Means: having the resources to do it – time, energy, money, tools, equipment, and whatever else is required.
- Will: being willing to actually do it.
We could have the knowledge but not the means.
Or we could have the means but not the knowledge.
Or we could have both…
…and still do nothing.
And perhaps the most frustrating is the last one.
Take this blog as an example.
i needed to know how to create a blog.
i needed a blogging platform, hosting, and the necessary tools.
And finally, i needed to actually sit down and create it.
The first two were not particularly difficult.
The real obstacle was the third.
i had to be willing to begin.
Start Small
Lao Tzu said:
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
Almost everything starts small.
Sometimes, as small as an idea.
A thousand-mile journey sounds enormous when you look at the destination.
But the first step is still only one step.
You don’t need to walk a thousand miles today.
You just need to take the next step.
Then another.
And another.
With consistent action, small steps eventually add up to distance.
With consistent improvement, imperfect beginnings eventually become competence.
And with enough time, something that once seemed impossible can become ordinary.
From Knowing to Doing
Taking the first step is only the beginning.
We make decisions every day.
Some lead to action.
Many don’t.
We decide to exercise, but remain on the couch.
We decide to write a book, but never write a page.
We decide to learn something new, but keep doing what we’ve always done.
Knowing what to do is not the same as doing it.
And deciding to do something is not the same as following through.
Somewhere between decision and action, we need something else:
Commitment.
Commitment is what keeps us moving when the initial excitement fades.
We start having doubts.
We change our minds.
We don’t see satisfying results quickly enough.
We lose motivation.
Or we simply want to give up.
This is why I like to think of the journey this way:
Knowledge: i know what to do.
↓
Decision: i choose to do it.
↓
Commitment: i’m going to keep doing it.
↓
Action: i actually do it.
↓
Competence: i get better.
↓
Confidence: i know i can do it.
↓
Momentum: i keep going.
We often think confidence needs to come first.
But it usually doesn’t.
Confidence comes from Competence, and Competence comes from Commitment.
We become competent by doing something repeatedly.
We become confident when we see ourselves becoming competent.
And that begins with committing to keep going.
The Birds
This brings me back to a little question from the original version of this article.
There are 10 birds sitting on a tree.
Three decide to fly away.
How many birds are left?
10.
Because three decided to fly.
They never actually flew.
And perhaps that is the simplest lesson of all:
A decision is not an action.
What we decided in the past helped create our present.
What we decide and do today will shape our future.
If there were a book about your life, would you realize that you are the author filling in the pages every day?
We don’t write our life with one giant decision.
We write it through thousands of small decisions and actions.
And every page gives us another opportunity to change the direction of the story.
Your First Time
So, what is something you have always wanted to do?
Something you’ve been thinking about for a long time?
Something you keep telling yourself you will do someday?
Maybe you don’t need more knowledge.
Maybe you don’t need more resources.
Maybe you don’t even need more confidence.
Maybe you simply need to take the first step.
The first step doesn’t have to be perfect.
Neither do the steps that follow.
We don’t improve by getting everything right the first time.
We improve by taking the next step, learning from it, and taking a better one.
The important thing is to keep moving.
And once you’ve done something for the first time, it is no longer your first time.
You have experience.
You have learned something.
And the next time, you have a chance to do it better.
That’s how improvement works.
Not by waiting until we are ready.
But by starting, learning, adjusting, and starting again.
So let me ask you:
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
Today might be a good day to try something new.
P.S. Are you moving towards your goal or away from it today?