Move at the speed of thought

On the first floor of Gates Hall there is a book propped up. The book is named Business at the Speed of Thought by (no surprises here…) Bill Gates.

I have not read this book. I have no idea what it is about.

The title did strike me as incredibly inspiring. It reminds me of the fast-paced nature of building and iterating and shipping. I would like to posit a more general version of that catchy title: Move at the speed of thought.

For too long have I had an interesting idea and told myself “oh but it’s too late I’ll sleep and figure this out tomorrow”. When tomorrow comes around, I forget the idea. I tried to put my ideas down in a Notes app on my phone, but the notes quickly become a backlog and I lose track.

What’s even worse is when I overthink an idea. Maybe I wanted to reach out to someone or do something outlandish and I become too engrossed in my own anxiety that I end up chickening out. THIS IS BAD! I must be as impulsive and in-the-moment as I can.

So, I have a new strategy. When an idea/inspiration/hypothesis comes into my head, I will drop everything and make an attempt at it. I obviously don’t have to succeed or even make progress – I just have to try. I will give it a stab and experience the idea for myself.

This blog post itself is a great example. It is nearly 5 in the morning and I just finished showering after a long night of studying and other (semi)-productive tasks. I can barely keep my eyes open. Yet during the shower, I had been contemplating my recent sidequests and impulsiveness in signing up/agreeing to things. I thought of the phrase “move at the speed of thought” in the shower and instantly delayed my bedtime even more to write this post.

Build, experience, iterate, ship, solve, climb, do anything at the speed of your own mind. good night!