Intent Is Useless. Execution Is Everything.
This saying used to hang on the wall at a previous organization I was with. I love it for its clarity and reminder.
People overrate intent. If you mean well but don’t act, the world doesn’t care. Your intent never leaves your head. Execution is the part the world sees.
Intent feels important because it’s tied to how we see ourselves. If you intend to start a business, you get to imagine yourself as an entrepreneur. That feels good. But it’s a kind of lie. You’re not an entrepreneur until you’ve built something.
This is why execution is everything. It’s what turns the invisible into the visible. You don’t get credit for potential energy. You only get credit when it moves.
The hard part isn’t knowing what to do; it’s doing it.
Most people don’t fail because they have bad ideas. They fail because they don’t execute. Maybe they’re afraid it won’t work. Or they think it needs to be perfect. That’s just procrastination in disguise.
Your first attempt will almost always be bad. That’s fine. The first version of anything isn’t supposed to be good—it’s supposed to exist. Execution is how you learn, and learning is how you get better.
Lesson Learned: Don’t confuse intent with progress. Intent is the spark. Execution is the fire. If you want to make something happen, stop imagining it and start doing it.