You Can’t Plow a Field by Turning It Over in Your Mind
Why Overthinking is the Silent Killer of Leadership
In leadership, motion matters more than mental gymnastics. The old saying, “You can’t plow a field by turning it over in your mind,” hits hard because it’s true. Too many leaders get caught in the trap of thinking themselves in circles—planning, analyzing, forecasting, revisiting ideas—all while mistaking that swirl of thought for real movement. But here’s the bottom line: nothing grows until you put your hands on the plow. Ideas are great. Execution is greater.
One of the most dangerous places a leader can stay is in the “waiting room” of decision-making—where perfection becomes the excuse for delay. We tweak the strategy, wait for better timing, polish the presentation one more time. But perfectionism is just fear in a clean outfit. Leadership isn’t about flawless decisions—it’s about forward momentum. Your team doesn’t need you to be perfect. They need you to move. And when you stall, so does everyone else.
The truth is, action breeds clarity. You rarely get full understanding from standing still. You get it from moving—testing, adapting, learning. It’s in the motion that real insight shows up. Leaders who act, even imperfectly, gain the kind of practical wisdom that overthinkers never access. You’ll never uncover the full plan in your head. You uncover it in the doing. So when you’re stuck, don’t wait for the fog to clear. Walk into it—and trust the path will start showing up under your feet.
And don’t forget: your team is watching. Your pace sets the rhythm for the whole organization. If you’re constantly overthinking, they will too. But if you move with conviction, even when things are unclear, you give them permission to move forward with you. Leadership is influence in motion. And no one’s inspired by a stalled engine.
Much of the overthinking we do comes from fear—fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of looking like we don’t have it all together. But leadership isn’t the absence of fear. It’s the choice to act in spite of it. The most effective leaders learn to trade fear for momentum. They understand that delay can be more damaging than a misstep. At least a misstep teaches. Stalling just steals time.
At the end of the day, leadership lives in execution. Ideas don’t lead teams. Slides don’t shift cultures. You do. Your ability to step into the unknown, take messy action, and adjust as you go is what separates managers from movement-makers. Stop waiting for the right moment. The moment is now. You can’t plow a field in your mind. So get out of your head—and into the work.
Developing the Discipline to Move as a Leader
Leadership is not an idea—it’s a behavior. And discipline is its engine. You can have a vision, strategy, values, and even the right people around you—but if you lack the discipline to take action, nothing meaningful happens. The wisdom of the quote, “You can’t plow a field by turning it over in your mind,” doesn’t just warn against overthinking. It calls out the gap between intention and execution—and that gap is where discipline must live.
In leadership, discipline means showing up even when it’s not easy, sexy, or convenient. It’s about choosing motion over mental loops, structure over chaos, and follow-through over fantasy. Most leaders don’t fail because they don’t know what to do—they fail because they can’t get themselves to do it consistently. They live in their heads, talking through the problem ten different ways, convinced the next version of the plan will finally be “right.” That’s not leadership. That’s procrastination in a suit.
Disciplined leaders don’t wait for the perfect moment—they build rhythm around imperfect action. Think of a farmer: they don’t plow based on ideal weather or mood. They follow the season. They know if the field isn’t turned at the right time, nothing grows. Discipline in leadership works the same way. You execute even when you’re uncertain. You make decisions even when clarity is fuzzy. You plant even if the harvest feels far away. That muscle—the ability to push forward despite friction—is the difference between potential and progress.
The cost of indecision is higher than most leaders realize. According to a McKinsey study, organizations led by high-velocity decision-makers outperform slower-moving peers by up to 2× in revenue growth. Meanwhile, Harvard Business Review reports that over 90% of employees lose confidence in leaders who hesitate too long. That loss doesn’t happen because of one decision—it happens because a leader keeps turning the soil in their head, instead of getting behind the plow and moving forward.
To become a disciplined leader, replace perfectionism with systems. Don’t rely on adrenaline, inspiration, or motivation—they’re fleeting. Instead, build repeatable structures for action. Block time for decisions. Bake in accountability. Create a “bias toward action” in your culture. Teach your team to try, fail fast, and adjust. When discipline becomes your default, progress becomes predictable. The field gets plowed—and the seeds get planted on time.
Let’s be clear: discipline doesn’t mean acting blindly. It means acting intentionally and consistently. You still reflect. You still measure. But you do it in a loop: Act → Assess → Adjust → Advance. Leadership discipline lives in that loop. The more you run it, the more momentum you build. Momentum fuels confidence. Confidence sharpens decision-making. And that earns the trust of your people—and yourself.
Leadership isn’t theory. It’s muscle memory. If you want that muscle strong, you’ve got to move. That field won’t plow itself—and thinking about it won’t get it done.
