The Perils of Unchecked Inaction

Fighting back against denial and acceptance

Photo by Firza Pratama on Unsplash

When you come to a crossroads, you are often faced with the decision to do something or wait it out. This can be simplified to a decision between action and inaction.

Talking heads will often say things like “action beats inaction every time,” but I would amend this to “action beats inaction most of the time.” Depending on the situation, either of these choices may be the right call.

What is never the right call, is unchecked inaction. Unchecked inaction is when you don’t necessarily make a decision to do nothing; it just happens. This is a dangerous place to be. You aren’t mindfully evaluating decisions. You aren’t taking action. You’re just along for the ride, whether you like it or not.

Types of Passive Modes

The first step to avoiding unchecked inaction is to recognize when it’s happening. There are two types of passive modes that lead to unchecked inaction: denial and acceptance.

While these two ideas sit on opposite sides of the spectrum, they both lead to the same undesirable result.

When you’re in denial, you are uncomfortable with the way things are. You don’t want to come to terms with the current situation. When you’re overly accepting…