You can just do things.

I used to hate this saying...

Apr 09, 2025

This saying. It used to bother me.

It sounds kind of pretentious—it’s like, someone spends tons of money hundreds of hours and grinding on something, then is like, “oh, no big deal, you can just do things!”

Like, bro, alright.

“You can just do things.”

Sure. Easy for you to say now that you’ve put in all that work.

But honestly, the more that I think about it, the more that I realize it’s always easier than I think it would be to “do things”.

For example: I had the idea to write this post. What I’ve done in the past when I have ideas for written posts, I write down the idea in some notes app somewhere, or start drafting it out.

That tab ends up staying open for weeks, and eventually I just close it. Over the years, I’ve compiled so many half-baked drafts of everything.

This time though, I decided to just open Substack and start writing.

So what does “just doing things” mean?

Three weeks ago I slept over at a friend’s place at Berkeley. Him and his three roommates are all good friends, and I really like their apartment. It almost feels like home, since I’ve been there so many times.

As I was leaving in the morning, I saw one of the other apartments on the same floor had an open house sign on it. Jokingly, I turned to my friend and said, “We should move in here.”

“Go for it,” he replied.

And so I contacted three friends who were looking for a place in Berkeley next year, and we started the application process.

It took a lot of back and forth fighting over who gets which room and pays what, but we figured it out.

Yesterday, the lease was confirmed. Starting this Summer, we’ll be 8 friends living on the same floor.

What could go wrong?

Without a simple thought of “what if?” that apartment would be filled with strangers next year.

Similarly - a few months ago, I saw a video promoting Creator Camp’s Film Festival that’s happening in Austin at the end of this month.

It seemed really exciting, and a good opportunity for the startup I work with to meet filmmakers and creators who might be interested in integrating our products into their workflows.

After talking with my CEO, we bought tickets to go.

But instead of making this just a normal trip, I keep trying to think of ways to make it 1% more exciting and beneficial.

It’s in Austin, I have family in Houston, what if I visit them first and then take a bus to Austin?

Check.

What if I go Austin a few days early and plan to meet up with the head videographer for Creator Camp’s content, who’s work I really admire?

Check.

What if I explore the city of Austin with a friend I know there, and maybe spend a night at his place so I don’t have to pay for hotels lol?

Check. Ty friend.

Making these decisions and seeing the results of them come to life is honestly so exciting.

It’s so easy to fall into the mundane trap of life, and get stuck in an endless cycle.

But it’s these spontaneous decisions that bring back that spark of excitement.

And there’s so many examples of how it’s inspired me to create; from motivating me to go walking in Chicago for two hours to capture the city through my camera, to encouraging me to spend hours making movie posters just for practice even though nobody asked for them lol.