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The Mindset That Will Instantly Improve Your Life
Scott Lynch
May 12, 2025
In partnership with
Hey there,
Ever find yourself fired up about a new goal—diet, business, creative project—only to spiral into an internet rabbit hole of contradictory advice?
One minute you're all in on keto, next you're team paleo, then somehow you're arguing with a vegan on Reddit while researching the carnivore diet.
(Pro tip: carnivores don't care, but vegans really care.)
I’ve been there. First with my very first business, then most recently with YouTube.
I thought I needed the perfect plan, the perfect setup, expert-level knowledge, and a God-tier logo before I could even start.
And every step of the way, advice clashed like swords in a medieval Reddit war.
One article screamed “huge opportunity!”—another basically said, “Abandon all hope and go work at The 99.”
Welcome to the information age.
Yes, we’ve got unlimited knowledge at our fingertips. But it’s overwhelming.
For every answer, there are five loud contradictions. And instead of gaining clarity, we freeze.
The way out is through what I call the Shoot-First Mentality.
Forget perfect. Forget the “right” way. Just start.
Take bold, slightly un-calculated action. Fire from the hip.
Get moving and adjust as you go. You’ll learn faster, get better faster, and avoid the pitfall of planning your dreams to death.
I learned this the hard way.
When I launched my podcast, I obsessed over everything: gear, recording location, title, niche. But none of it mattered once I hit record.
Real growth came from doing—stumbling through bad takes, awkward intros, and clunky edits. That’s where the real feedback loop lives.
The same principle applies across the board: Action > Research.
Trying and failing will teach you more than any blog post ever could.
Another bonus: taking action builds resilience. It “calluses your mind”, as David Goggins would say.
The more you act despite discomfort, the less power discomfort has over you.
While others freeze in uncertainty, you’ll become the person who executes under pressure.
Remember what Ralph Waldo Emerson said: “Do the thing and you will have the power.”
It’s simple, but brutally accurate. No amount of thinking changes your life—doing does.
Sure, you’ll mess up. That’s part of the gig.
Take, for example, the time I ranted to my coworker about a rude sales prospect after an unpleasant phone call with them… only to realize I never hung up.
He heard everything.
Cringe? Yes. Regret? Surprisingly, no.
I was in the arena, not the bleachers. That embarrassment taught me more than a thousand "how to sell with class" articles ever could.
Ideas are easy. Action is rare.
If you’ve had a “million-dollar idea” every month for the last five years but haven’t started anything, it’s not the ideas holding you back—it’s the lack of execution.
The people who win aren’t smarter. They just start. They iterate, they mess up, and they get better.
So next time you catch yourself planning endlessly, stop.
Pull the trigger. Move. Try. Adjust. That’s where progress lives.
Do the thing—and you’ll have the power.
Have a wonderful week, all.
Shoot your shot - Scott (@motivatedscott).
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