We have become increasingly better at pushing through. Not because we consciously choose to, but because it is rewarded. Pushing through gives affirmation. Dopamine. Results. Movement. Choosing requires something different: pausing, allowing uncertainty, and letting go of options. We prefer to avoid that.
In his book From Running to Choosing, he shows how this pattern sustains itself, in organizations, in leadership, and in how we view work.
Being busy feels professional. Engaged. Important. It becomes part of your identity. And that is exactly why it is so difficult to step out of it.
The pattern is recognizable:
• agendas that become fuller, but not sharper
• teams that work hard, but keep spinning in the same place
• professionals who keep optimizing what they already do
And when it starts to pinch? We look for the solution in organizing even better. A new tool. A training. A book about productivity.
But rarely something that forces us to choose. There are plenty of tools to get more done. But if you don’t choose what will no longer be done, you mainly organize your own busyness. Efficiency is often not a solution, but procrastination in a neat package.
Goldsteen speaks from personal experience. As an entrepreneur, he became increasingly better at running, until he decided to do it differently. Doing less, choosing sharper. That brought peace and focus.
About the book
From Running to Choosing shows why being busy is not a strategy and what is needed to choose direction again. It helps readers to:
• recognize where they are efficiently moving in the wrong direction
• see which choices they are postponing
• regain their position in their work and leadership
‘Choosing is much more fun than running. Also more interesting. And more valuable. Running feels easier, more logical, normal. Albert explains how to stop running, so you become a chooser: someone with real impact.’— Taco Oosterkamp, author of Shameless Delegation
About the author
Albert Goldsteen is an entrepreneur and mentor for leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals. In his work, he uncovers busyness as a system and indecisiveness as a hidden pattern. He helps people slow down without coming to a standstill and steer without running harder. From Running to Choosing is the result of years of practical experience and just as much self-examination.
