First downs are not touchdowns. That is obvious.

No football team ever has won a game when they make progress down the field but never score any points.

On teams, first downs often can feel like touchdowns and be celebrated as such, but they’re not the same.

Touchdowns take courage. To say it’s done, shipped. To deliver and present. To go to market. To make a decision. To make the change. To be specific. To put it into the world and be on the hook for it. To commit and forsake all others. Courage.

First downs merely require making progress, gaining yardage, keeping the wheels turning. Whatever that loosely means.

To be sure, first downs are important. But only if they put us in position to take a real shot at the end zone and achieve the goal that actually matters.

Consequently, it’s REALLY important to REALLY understand what tasks are touchdowns and which ones are merely first downs. Otherwise, we’ll have spent our lives being busy, without actually making anything better.