How to Start Using AI Without Overthinking

Some days I sit down to work on something new, and I already feel behind.

Not because I don’t have ideas.

But because I have too many.

Too many options. Too many angles. Too many things I feel like I should already know.

Sometimes, the same drive and thoughtfulness that help you see all the angles are exactly what hold you back.

The more ambitious and aware you are, the more clearly you can imagine how things might go wrong.

You see the flaws. The variables. The dead ends. The 1,000 ways an idea could fall apart.

And before you even take the first step, you’re already second-guessing the map.

If your brain is a car, your drive is the engine.

But overthinking? That’s the brake.

And when the brake is stronger than the engine, you don’t move.

If you’re someone who likes to think things through, that stuck feeling might sound familiar.

The more you care about getting it right, the easier it is to hesitate, especially when everything is moving so fast.

Planning is a strength, until it becomes a delay.

When you're wired to think deeply, you don’t just dive in.

You simulate. You strategize. You build out the whole decision tree in your head.

That’s useful. Until it isn’t.

Because the same brain that helps you imagine great ideas is often the one convincing you not to start.

You wait for the conditions to be perfect.

You try to outthink the unknowns.

You tell yourself, “Just a bit more prep, and then I’ll be ready.”

Spoiler alert: there’s never a perfect time to start something new.

But there’s almost always a best time.

And it’s usually right now.

So what does any of this have to do with AI, you ask? There’s a difference between trying to understand AI and trying to make it useful.

Let’s call those two modes:

• Learning Mode - taking in information, staying up to date, trying to wrap your head around it all.
• Application Mode - applying it in some way, even if it’s small.

Both are valuable. But they serve different purposes.

Learning Mode builds awareness.

Application Mode builds experience.

Reading this newsletter? Learning.

Doing the Homework each week? Application.

That’s where the real growth happens.

The space between knowing and doing is where overthinking hides.

That’s why I keep coming back to this:

You don’t need to leap. You just need to reach.

Not because reaching is easy.

But because reaching is how momentum starts.

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