Think vs Don’t Think

Till a few days ago I really did not understand why sometimes people say “Think before you act” and other times people say “Don’t think just do it.” Those conflicting statements caused me to Think and find the solution by myself and I hope it might give some respite to you as well.

Thinking means considering each and every possibility in a systematic manner – one by one and weighing the pros and cons by arriving at the correct one by eliminating the other ones. This may take 10 seconds to 10 months and it it is not over thinking, it is proper thinking.  Over thinking arises when you think about the same possibility (or a set of possibilities) again and again without eliminating other possibilities and I call this redundant thinking and in the same way this can also range from 10 seconds to 10 months. There is nothing like too much thinking in fact it should not be the time taken that should be the deciding factor in accessing the type of thinking but it should be the quality of thought process that should decide whether it is proper thinking or over thinking.

In a short summary when people tell “Don’t think too much” –they mean to say “don’t think over the missed opportunities, left over choices and redundant things and instead carry on with your execution of the decision that you have taken. To put it even more precisely: stop redundant thinking and start proper thinking and there is nothing like too much thinking. And I think that this is the reason Henry Ford said “Thinking is the hardest part to do, that is why very few people do it” and what he meant was to think properly and not redundantly !!

– Raviteja Visakoti