“I'm thinking of changing.”
Thinking feels like progress. Usually, it isn't. Action is.

Change is difficult. For companies and for people. We are not merely choosing something new. We are letting go of something we built.

Who we are today is the result of circumstances and actions: the products we made, the jobs we took, the people we met. Action after action we have created results, relationships—and meaning.

Letting go of things means loss and uncertainty. So we think harder and make more plans, hoping to—one day—turn that idea into reality. That’s how ideas remain ideas.

Research tells us that change works differently: by taking action. By doing something new, learning from it—and making sense of it later. Herminia Ibarra has written a whole book about this: Working Identity.

Past actions created the system that feels familiar. New actions begin to create another one:

• Want your company to become more customer-focused? Meet one customer every day.
• Want to become an entrepreneur? Launch a small side business.
• Want to change careers? Line up five job interviews.

Then decide whether it’s for you.

Change is hard for a simple reason: we haven’t done the new thing yet. We are waiting to feel ready.
But readiness often arrives after we begin.

For change, do first.
Think later.