Opposite Action

I had three new ideas before 9 AM yesterday. By lunch, I’d thought of two more, and I was already mentally sketching out a strategy for how to atomize our content.

This is both my strength and my problem.

Moving fast and generating ideas comes naturally to me. It gives me energy and a sense of purpose. What’s much harder, and what doesn’t come naturally at all, is deliberately slowing down to create clarity and organization around those ideas. Yet I’ve realized that my speed often creates more work for others when my thoughts aren’t structured or my communication lacks the context you need to act on it.

The Power of Acting Against Comfort

Opposite Action is a powerful skill that works on a deceptively simple but profound principle: When an emotion is prompting you toward an unhelpful (or ingrained) behavior, you deliberately do the opposite of what that emotion urges you to do.

For someone like me who gets energized by moving quickly, the Opposite Action isn’t about killing creativity—it’s about creating structure around it so the ideas can actually be useful. For you, it may be quite different (more on that at the end of the letter).

Deliberate Deceleration

Here’s how I’m practicing Opposite Action in the areas where my default speed isn’t serving our team:

1. The 24-48 Hour Holding Pattern

When I have a new idea that feels urgent (spoiler: they all feel urgent to me), my instinct is to immediately share it, refine it, or start planning around it.

My Opposite Action: I’m forcing myself to sit with new ideas for 24-48 hours before discussing them with anyone. I write them down, but I don’t act on them or loop others in until I’ve had time to think through the implications and context.

What this looks like: That atomizing content strategy? It’s sitting in my notebook for a while before I bring it to the team.

The benefit: When I do share ideas, they’re more thoughtful and you get the context you need instead of just my stream of consciousness.

2. Writing Messages in Full Before Sending

I have a habit of sending rapid-fire Slack messages as thoughts occur to me. This often means incomplete context, missing details, or sending five separate messages when one organized message would be clearer.

My Opposite Action: Writing out the full message first, including the context and what I need from you, before hitting send. Even if it takes an extra two minutes.

The impact: You spend less time asking clarifying questions, and our conversations can focus on the actual work instead of me explaining what I meant.

3. Creating Structure Around My Ideas

My natural approach is to have an idea and immediately want to explore it from every angle. This creates energy for me but often leaves others unclear about priorities, next steps, or how the new idea fits with existing work.

My Opposite Action: Before sharing any new concept, I’m forcing myself to answer: What problem does this solve? How does it connect to our current priorities? What would success look like? What’s the first step?

The challenge: This level of organization doesn’t come naturally to me. It requires me to slow down when every instinct wants to speed up.

Why This Matters for Our Team

My speed can be an asset when it’s channeled well, but it becomes a liability when it creates confusion or forces others to organize my thoughts for me. By practicing my Opposite Action, I can maintain the creative energy while making it actually useful for our work together.

Your Turn

I’m curious about your own patterns. Where might you benefit from using Opposite Action to grow and challenge what comes unnaturally to you?

Maybe you’re structured and organized and could benefit from moving faster. Maybe you’re collaborative and could benefit from making some calls independently. Maybe you focus deeply and could benefit from stepping back for a broader perspective.

What’s one area where your strength, taken too far, might be limiting your growth or our team’s effectiveness? What would your version of Opposite Action look like?

Looking forward to learning what happens when we all lean into the discomfort that leads to growth.

P.S. Update on previous practices: Still working on listening without interrupting—the Venmo accountability is helping but clearly I have more work to do (only $9 down, there’s no way I’ve only interrupted nine times).