I recently noticed how often I hesitate—for a multitude of reasons too long to list—and I wondered, what if for the next couple of days, every time I noticed myself doing it, I chose to take action instead? It was an interesting experiment. Here’s what came of it.

Yesterday, I was going to get my car washed. As I was about to get into the left turn lane, another car trying to turn the opposite direction got in my way. I was forced to go straight to avoid a standoff. I told myself I would get my car washed later. I noticed the hesitation, changed my mind, and drove back.

Waiting in the long line of dirty cars, I decided to entertain myself by listening to the audio version of Amy Poehler’s 2014 memoir, “Yes Please.” The book was at the point where Poehler advises you to “Treat your career like a bad boyfriend” This was not only amusing but also very insightful, as I have been feeling very frustrated with my career as of late.

Later that night, after being awakened at 1:30 am, as I laid in bed tossing and turning, I thought, “I should get up and write down that insightful passage. “No, I’ll do it later,” I thought and noticed this was another hesitation. I got up and wrote out some notes.

It was so perfect because what resonated with me was this statement:

“Remember, your career is a bad boyfriend. It likes it when you don’t depend on it. It will reward you every time you don’t act needy. It will chase you if you act like other things, like passion, friendship, family, and longevity, are more important to you. Care about how good you are and how good you feel and not about how good people think you are.”

And when I look back on this chain of events, I would not have experienced this helpful “lightbulb moment” had I chosen to hesitate and not get my car washed yesterday!