The Toolbox Fallacy
Recently, I started a blog.
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I thought I had to go through a specific website in order to do so. All the recommendations were telling me to, and I bought into the hype (read: marketing) and purchased the domain.
Now, thanks to some convoluted baloney, long story short: thanks to the host, I wasn't able to use the app, so using my phone to write wasn’t an option. And the owner's interface was constantly broken. And changing anything was more convoluted than it needed to be.
Once my 60 days of owning the website through this host is complete, I’ll keep the domain and transfer everything to fall under Stronger After Labor and keep my writing here.
I had been having problems since I started writing - but even with the janky format and the website's interface giving me links
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I didn’t want to succumb to the toolbox fallacy. I knew I just needed to write and get my thoughts down.
The toolbox fallacy is not starting or not working on a project because you need X or Y to work on it. Like Max, the taxi driver from Collateral.
Max wants to start his business, but feels he needs to get to the right place and time before he can do so - while lying to his own mother that he’s already started. Unfortunately it takes a murderer to tell him how he’s wrong in waiting, but it's self-deception disguised as an excuse.
By far this is one of the biggest excuses I hear in the fitness world.
“I'll get healthy when I get a gym membership”
You don’t need one. Walking in 2020 helped me lose 10 lbs without trying.
“I can’t workout until I get a new smartwatch.”
I wonder how anyone worked out before cell phones, I swear.
“I’ll start my blog when my website is up and running”
And the biggest one that has the worst implications: “I’ll have kids when the time is right”. Unfortunately, I will say my biggest regret is not having kids sooner. Was I ready? 5 years ago, maybe? 8 years ago I didn’t even have a job that would let me take more than 2 weeks off postpartum. But now as I approach 35 and become a gErIaTrIc PrEgNaNcY I do get a little nervous about the risks for both me and my future kids. And I know the chances of me having more kids will dwindle with time. So, was it worth waiting? There’s no way to know. One thing I will say, I know a lot of women who are struggling to have kids in their 30s. And that breaks my heart.
Remove these excuses from your mental space, know that it’s one of the most common fallacies of our brains, and start doing whatever it is you're not doing.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
