Chad Silverstein explains how saying "done so" after completing small tasks builds momentum toward bigger work. He pushes for radical honesty about procrastination, picking one winnable action, and knowing when to ask for help breaking stuck patterns.
Chapters
I remember when Chet used to start saying done so to get things done. He'd just write in his email, done so, done so. And so. I got in the habit of doing that when I would knock off my productive actions just to say done so. And here we are, day 115. And I'm hoping that you have a lot of done sos on your path, on your builder's journey, when it comes to building out your core and all the things that you've been challenged to write and to get clarity on and get busy working towards your ultimate magnum opus. Right? That's the goal, that's the aim. Whether you're working on it or not, that's where we're gonna. That's where we're gonna end up. And you have to fill up your playbook with done sos, picking those small, productive actions. And I think the most important thing is you gotta stop lying to yourself. I recently had a client tell me that they are wanting to stop a certain habit, an addictive behavior that they don't want to do anymore, but they've been doing it for years. And he told me, I'm going to stop this summer. I said, no, you're not. I just called him out. I know he won't. Because you don't keep doing something that eventually you're going to stop that that next day is today. You've been saying that already. So, you know, until you put a stake in the ground, until you say f, yeah, you're not doing it. And I think lying to yourself and not being 100, transparent and vulnerable with yourself is a pretty big problem. Because if you can't be honest with yourself, you're definitely not going to be honest with other people, which means you're busy living two lives. You're living a secret life, and that is just not a healthy way to live. And I know because I've been there, and I used to hide a lot of things. And I made a decision on my builder's journey. I'm done. And that is at the risk of someone thinking something of me. I'm okay with it. I don't like it. It's not going to make me feel good if someone judges me for whatever it is that I choose to say or do. But I'm going to be okay knowing that I am who I am. And I know that it doesn't really make a difference what you think, because at the end of the day, we all leave this world. And two, three generations from now, nobody remembers you anyways. So if you're going to eat yourself up and worry about what everyone's think, and then you're wasting your time and you're wasting your life. So stop lying to yourself. And whatever habit, whatever vice, whatever impulse you can't resist, whatever integrity gap you have not been able to close, big, small, in between doesn't matter. Just accept wherever it is that you are and make a decision that you're going to change and then do something about it and make it a done so and make it something easy that you can win. And try to find lots of ways to keep winning to get momentum and celebrate those small wins because they're a big deal. And when push comes to shove and you realize this is something you've been trying to overcome for a long time, recognize when you can't do it by yourself, because most people can't and there's nothing wrong with that. Everybody needs a builder, a coach, a therapist, something, someone in their life to help them get to where they want to go. And you can't always, you know, think you're tough enough to do it on your own, especially if you've been stuck in the rut for a long time with something that's holding you back. So make it a done so and yeah, just make it a done so done so.
