Start Wrong, Go Deep

Give Yourself Permission to Be Superficial (at First)

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
— Zig Ziglar

Doing the right thing for the wrong reason is better than doing nothing at all.
This isn’t clever wordplay—it’s an antidote to perfectionism and paralysis

Breaking the Inertia

Inaction masquerades as wisdom. "Waiting for the right why" feels like thoughtful deliberation but it's just procrastination wearing intellectual clothing. The great struggle of our time is breaking free of inertia. "Activation energy" is in short supply and high demand.

If you’re brutally honest with yourself—as I’ve learned the hard way—you’ll see the real power is in simply beginning. Even when your initial motivations are shallow, movement reveals deeper purposes you couldn't have anticipated from the sidelines.

From Vanity-to-Values

I started hitting the gym recently with an embarrassingly superficial motivation: to look better. Pure vanity. Yet these weeks have reminded me of discipline's benefits and reduced my stress levels. What began as a shallow pursuit is becoming a commitment to caring for my body (weight training helps maintain bone density as you age).

Beginning with imperfect motivations often leads to discovering authentic ones through the process itself. Start exercising out of vanity. Launch a project chasing validation or social status. Just move.

As long as these actions ultimately align with your broader direction, you’ll find your “why” on the way. In the doing, you’ll uncover motivations that perhaps weren’t enough to get you started but have now strengthened and are self-sustaining.

What got you started doesn’t need to be what keeps you going.

The Paradox of Motivation

Our brains overvalue immediate rewards while undervaluing long-term benefits. Short-term motivations like recognition, pride, social validation can spark actions that serve your long-term goals.

If you’re an overt-thinker (like me), the key is to find any motivation strong enough to break that initial inertia. Your first reason doesn't need to be noble—it just needs to get you moving.

While pursuing validation may seem superficial, when deliberately harnessed, it becomes powerful. Publicly tracking progress or creating accountability might initially feel driven by vanity. Yet these actions create commitment structures that sustain momentum when deeper motivations waver.

Of course, not all wrong reasons lead to growth. Some can spiral into self-sabotage. But the point here is to act with awareness and be willing to evolve. The purest motivations emerge not before action but through it. I believe the depth we seek doesn't precede the journey but rather reveals itself along the way.

Start shallow if necessary. Depth will find you through consistent action.

Just don’t stay still.

“Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action.”
— Benjamin Disraeli