The Action-Inaction Pain Test
Compare both discomforts before choosing whether to act
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 98%
Smith reframes low-confidence moments as a crossroads between action and inaction. First, identify the real pain point beneath a surface goal: loneliness rather than merely wanting to date, or feeling chronically undervalued rather than simply wanting a bonus. Then compare the immediate discomfort of acting with the continuing cost of doing nothing. Speaking to a stranger may feel awkward, but another month of unwanted isolation may feel worse; raising a concern with a manager may be uncomfortable, but remaining silent also preserves the current treatment. The test does not guarantee that action will produce the desired result. Its purpose is to remove the fiction that avoidance is neutral, make both consequences visible, and support one small action consistent with the chosen direction.
Origin
Smith connects the pain-point questions he used in personal training and sales with confidence decisions in dating, work, and personal projects.
Core principles
- 01Inaction is an active choice with consequences
- 02Immediate discomfort can hide a larger continuing cost
- 03A specific pain point motivates more strongly than a vague aspiration
- 04The comparison should include what happens if nothing changes
How to run it
- 1
Find the real pain point
Move beneath the acceptable surface goal and state what the current situation actually costs you. Keep the wording specific and personal.
Pro tip Ask what still hurts when motivation is low.
- 2
Price the action
Describe the immediate discomfort, risk, and effort of acting. Do not minimise legitimate consequences.
Pro tip Separate temporary awkwardness from material danger.
Watch out Do not use this test to pressure yourself into an unsafe confrontation.
- 3
Price the inaction
Project the current pattern forward by a realistic period. Name what another week, month, or year without change would preserve or worsen.
Pro tip Use a time horizon long enough for the hidden cost to become visible.
- 4
Choose the owned cost
Compare both directions and decide which consequence you are willing to accept. Recognise that declining to act remains a decision.
Pro tip Write both choices as active sentences beginning with “I choose.”
- 5
Move one step
Take the smallest action that genuinely changes direction. Avoid substituting planning that leaves the situation untouched.
Pro tip Send the request, arrange the conversation, or make the introduction concrete.
In the wild
Smith asks a lonely person to compare the discomfort of talking to a stranger with the prospect of remaining single for another week or month. The comparison does not promise romantic success; it identifies which discomfort better serves the person's stated aim.
→ The avoided conversation is evaluated against the real cost of continued inaction.
A worker who feels undervalued may fear speaking to a manager. Smith compares that short-term discomfort with continuing without a promised bonus and remaining silent about the treatment.
→ Silence becomes a visible choice rather than an empty space between decisions.
Common mistakes
Using a cosmetic pain point
A vague aspiration such as getting toned may not carry enough meaning to guide action when resistance appears.
Treating inaction as neutral
Doing nothing keeps the current trajectory in place and therefore has consequences of its own.
Ignoring genuine risk
The comparison should not collapse safety, legal, health, or financial risks into mere discomfort.
Is it for you?
Best for
People stalled before an uncomfortable but potentially useful conversation, request, or first move.
Not ideal for
Situations involving coercion, abuse, unsafe confrontation, or decisions that require professional advice.
From the transcript
“what out of these two things is more uncomfortable for me”
“whatever you're not changing you're choosing”
From the episode
James Smith: Become Confident In 100 Minutes