Don’t Just Do Something! Sit There.

There are times when action is rewarded. We have a commonly prescribed piece of advice that’s often given in these types of situations: don’t just sit there—do something.

The idea is that doing something is going to get a better result than doing nothing, so the advice is to act, even if you’re not sure what exactly to do. This is one of those helpful heuristics: a rule that you don’t really have to think about.

If you think about your own life, you can probably think of dozens—maybe hundreds—of examples of micro-rules you use every day. Is that banana ripe enough? Should you stop driving so you can pee now, or wait for an easier exit with a rest area?

These heuristics simplify complex calculations into manageable choices.

Action can keep you from being stuck at an inflection point, but what if being stuck is the best thing you can do in that moment? What if we invert the saying, as I’ve done in the title today? Don’t just do something—sit there has a nice ring to it.

This inverted phrase really strikes at the core of conventional wisdom.

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s right-hand man for decades, had a way with inverted thinking, and he is famous for being patient—and of warning about the results of impatience:

It’s waiting that helps you as an investor and a lot of people just can’t stand to wait. If you didn’t get the deferred-gratification gene, you’ve got to work very hard to overcome that.

There’s no place this resonates more with me than in jiu jitsu. If you’re in a bad position and extend your arm or otherwise get out of your defensive posture, you’re very likely to give up the game—to have to tap to a submission.

Waiting underneath a bigger person when they’re applying pressure and hoping you make a mistake isn’t easy. Likewise, a lifetime of investment patience feels virtually impossible. “Nobody likes to get rich slowly” is another slogan I’ve heard attributed to Munger, who lived to be 99 years old and died fairly recently.

Have you experienced this type of moment, stuck under metaphorical side control and feeling like you’ve got to take some kind of action? What are some other areas where patience really pays off, even though you feel like activity is the only solution?