Behave like NPCs

This sounds like really bad advice, but in the next few paragraphs, I will convince you why it's in your best interest to behave like an NPC.

NPCs are objects of a program. Procedural operations are implemented by its programmer to force the character to behave exactly as intended, routinely, or when being interacted with in a certain manner.

The beauty of an NPC is exactly that: it behaves routinely. An NPC does not care who the main character is or what he/she thinks; an NPC does not care what other NPCs think; an NPC does not care what even the programmer thinks or intended. An NPC only cares about one thing: Behave exactly as programmed. Nothing more, nothing less.

Think later, execute now: You think too much. The beautiful part of behaving like an NPC while having Agency is that you are totally aware of exactly what you are doing and what you need to do, but you do not think about it. Once you establish your goal and what is needed to achieve it, you ACT, then routinely evaluate your goals and the progress.

The problem: NPCs in video games have a proper feedback system for how the world reacts when they interact with it. Or, at the least, have the rules of the world, intentionally or unintentionally, be bent by the programmer to help the NPC achieve its objectives.

The real world isn't much like this, which means you never know when you act right or wrong. But one rule is always clear - One question you ask: are you progressing or not?

Progress? Continue. No Progress / Regression? Reevaluate and tweak routine. Then proceed.

Thinking is excellent for evaluation, but terrible for determination.

"Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time." — John C. Maxwell