Few things flood my brain with dopamine more than planning a list of books to read to learn about a new topic.

My brain basks in this planning process. It feels so productive, but it involves minimal mental effort.

Time and time again this cycle occurs. When it comes to getting down to real work, the euphoric rush fades. It turns out planning is easy and action is hard.

Before long, my interest dies down and it’s onto the next topic. And so the cycle continues.

This happened until I heard a story of two men learning to fish. The first fisherman heads to the marina and buys the best fishing boat money can buy. He specs out a custom carbon fiber rod and spends thousands on a deep-water GPS. He spends time reading up on different casting, reeling, and baiting techniques. A few months later, he feels ready to fish.

But by the time he casts his first line, the second fisherman has sucked the lake dry.

On day one, the second fisherman grabbed a shitty rod, sliced up a hot dog, and started fishing. Every day he honed his technique, finding bait which worked a little better or a spot that had a few more nibbles. After three weeks of iteration, he found the winning combo.

Before long, he was hauling in hundreds of fish every day. From there he opened a restaurant to sell his fresh fish. And then he opened a fishing school to teach others his craft. All while the first fisherman gathered gear.

The moral of this story?

Get to action as quickly as possible.

When you find yourself gathering gear, grab a shitty rod and start fishing.