My approach to self-improvement, work and learning in general changed drastically when I discovered the “Shitty Rod Framework”.

A little backstory…

I used to plan… a little too much. So much, in fact, that planning had become a distraction from actually getting work done. I also learned… a little too much. So much, actually, that I was no longer learning what I needed, but used learning as a way to procrastinate from work.

I call this condition “Planning Paralysis”.

Because paralysis is exactly what it leads to.

I’d spend days, even weeks, researching to make a perfect plan, a plan that would remove all the uncertainty that comes with starting something new. Then I’d dive into learning. Books, YouTube videos, podcasts, articles… you name it. I consumed information like a woodworm consumes a wooden chair. I wanted to learn everything I needed to learn, I even took pride in this, believing I was planning my life like “an architect planning a skyscraper”.

But then… nothing.

I didn’t take any action.

If you are nodding along as you read this, you know exactly what I am talking about.

No action. No progress. Your brain may be filled with all the knowledge in the world, but without action, your impact is as unnoticeable as the ripples on a frozen lake. You want to be fully ready before you start, but you are never fully ready, and thus you never start.

It is a form of perfectionism, and perfectionism sucks.

Here’s a harsh truth I wish I knew earlier:

Perfectionism has nothing to do with striving for excellence. It’s has everything to do with fear of failure.

If I got a chance to meet my old self, I’d bluntly tell him this:

“You are only planning this much because you are afraid of failure. ‘I’ll start once I am ready’ is nothing but an excuse, a cover-up for your fear of failures that will inevitably come when trying something new. Don’t cover your fear with perfectionism either, because if you truly desired perfection, you’d be putting in a hundred times more effort —not just in your mind, but also in the real world. And by the way, you will never be ready. Failures are like mosquitos. Isolate yourself in a vacuum chamber with titanium walls, they will still find a way to slip through. So don’t avoid them. Face them head on, and slap the lessons out of them.“

The Way Out — Shitty Rod Framework

I only broke free from planning paralysis when I started writing online.

Out of habit, I ‘started’ the way I ‘started’ with anything. I spent a lot of time diving into the books, articles, videos of people like , Dan Koe and . I kept putting off action for the sake of learning until one advice they unanimously preached finally crystallized in my brain: Stop learning about writing, and actually start writing.

Because there is no other way.

You either take action and write, or you aren’t a digital writer.

It’s something experienced writers talk about so openly, and I am surprised by just how long it took for me to finally accept it.

The “Shitty Rod Framework”, with its exceptionally memorable name, also comes from a story I have read from .

The Story of Two Fishermen1

Joe and Apollo want to become fishermen, but they are both just starting out.

Joe is a planner. He wants to learn everything there’s to know about fishing before he starts. So, he reads books, enrolls in online courses, watches a ton of youtube videos, and spends months learning every bit of knowledge a fisher might need. If there was a trivia contest for fishermen, he would have won easily. Finally, after buying a top-notch fishing rod and all the necessary tools, he finally heads for the lake. Alas, the lake doesn’t give sh*t about his knowledge.

He tries again and again, but at the end of the day, he still hasn’t caught any fish.

Because there’s no fish left in the lake. Apollo had already fished all the fishes.

While Joe was searching amazon for fishing books, Apollo was already by the lake’s shore.

He grabbed a stick, tied a string to it, and attached a piece of bread as a bait. He threw it in the lake — no fish. Never mind, he thought, and tomorrow, he replaced the bread crumb with a worm — still, no fish. Maybe the location is wrong, he though, and moved 100 meters eastwards and tried again. After some more trial and error, a few fishes seemed interested in his lure, so he decided to buy a more decent rod.

Over time, Apollo kept trying, learning from lake’s feedback, asking elder fishers if he needed to, and eventually he caught his first fish, then second, and while Joe was discussing what baits work the best on fishing forums, he leveled his game, opened a fishing restaurant, hired a few people, and bam, he and his team were now catching fish after fish after fish.

Before Joe had come to the shore, they had fished the lake dry.

What We Can Learn From This Story

There are three key elements behind Apollo’s success, and these are the foundations of the Shitty Rod Framework I will talk about below.

#1. Taking action right away

He didn’t wait to have a perfect plan, nor did he spend a lot of time learning fishing theory. He made a shitty rod out of a stick and started fishing right away.

This is important right at the start, but just as important on every step of the journey.

When Apollo learned anything about fishing, he didn’t wait to learn more, he went out and tried it as soon as possible.

#2. Consistency

He kept coming back to the lake, day in and day out, making fishing a part of his life.

This ain’t easy, but necessary.

Apollo didn’t stop fishing on days he caught no fish. He didn’t stop on lucky days he caught a ton of fish.

He came back to the lake, always.

#3. Real-world feedback

Real world feedback is the best teacher and mentor you can have.

This goes for pretty much everything in life. Raw knowledge is not enough, you need practice.

In the case of Apollo, each time he tried something, he learned something.

His knowledge was incomparably more valuable than that of Joe, because while Joe learned “fishing”, Apollo learned “how to fish”.

How You Can Apply This

I turned the lessons from this story into a step-by-step framework.

Here’s how it works:

1. Pick a Goal — For example, to get more followers on X

2. Find a Small Daily Action — Post 3 tweets a day

3. Stay Consistent — Do it every. single. day.

4. Learn and Apply — If you learn from a solopreneur that you should reply 10 times per day, try it for yourself and see what happens. Use the real-world feedback to adjust your course. The faster you go from idea to execution, the faster you will progress.

5. Keep Iterating — As you come across new ideas and tools, keep testing them and refining your strategy.

I have used this many times in my own life, and I made more progress than my old planner self could ever dream of achieving.

Of course, I am not against upfront planning and learning. It can save you hours and days in wasted effort.

But the bottom line is, don’t let planning and learning stop you from taking action. The real progress happens when you take action. So start, stay consistent, and figure it out as you go.

You got this.

— Nihad