Micro Misconcepts

5th September 2025

Issue# 009

How Smart People Stay Stuck (and How to Break Free)

There’s a moment when every ambitious person faces the same crossroads: keep learning or start doing. Most choose wrong.

You’ve heard this advice countless times - “Just take action”. There’s a good reason why this seemingly simple advice gets repeated again and again. This may be the best strategy you’re ignoring.

The Trap of Learning More

When starting something new, learning makes sense as it equips us with the misconcepts we need to navigate this new domain. But beyond a certain point, learning has diminishing returns. This is where most people get stuck. They far exceed the marginal utility of learning and endlessly refine their theories and plans rather than testing them against reality. Learning has become procrastination.

You evolve from someone who knows nothing about the topic to someone with a conjecture. If you continue to consume content rather than take action on the misconcepts you already have, you stay stuck as a person with a conjecture.

We all know that person who spent 6 months crafting the perfect morning routine instead of just trying it for one week. Or maybe you’re that person?
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The Magic of Imperfect Action

This is why taking action works: Action generates feedback. This feedback allows you to error-correct your misconcepts faster than any book ever could. Instead of theoretical misconcepts, you develop accurate fit-for-purpose misconcepts.
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A bias to action helps you transition from a person with an opinion to a person with an experience. And as a person with experience, you can compound more rapidly towards your goals.
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Seth Godin captures this perfectly:

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Making the Change

What stops people from taking action isn’t usually a lack of knowledge but a fear of failure, avoided by doing “just a bit more research”. But the only way through that fear you’re trying to research away is through action.

Here’s a reframe that will help you make the change: Each failure is simply data to help you iterate towards what actually works.

When you feel that familiar pull towards just one more book, one more course or one more planning session, pause and ask yourself: “what’s the smallest imperfect action I can take today that will generate real feedback?”

Your future self - the one with experience rather than opinions - is waiting. What will you test today?

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Thanks for reading!

Learn more at https://misconcepts.kit.com/67493256c0​

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