“All progress begins with a brave decision.” – Marie Forleo
It will shock no one to find out that I’ve always been a planner. An extreme planner. And, although I’m familiar with the phrase “start before you’re ready”, I’ve never followed it. Until recently. For years, I said “no” to doing anything before I felt completely ready. To do otherwise seemed a bit crazy.
What held me back? Fear. Fear of change. Fear of doing something new and different. Fear that change was risky.
I’m guessing that you’ve felt this way too. We’ve been taught from an early age to research and plan so much that it’s become a hindrance to us. It stops many of us from moving forward.
But I’ve recently learned that starting before you’re ready is truly sage advice. Especially when it comes to doing something new or scary. Because you won’t ever “feel” ready to do any of those things. Which means you’ll never do them.
And being static is even more scary – isn’t it? Because it means you’re stuck.
So, how have I been practicing “start before you’re ready”? I finally had the guts to leave my law practice and start my own business (which happens to be completely unrelated to the law). I certainly didn’t feel ready when I did it. But I did it anyway.
And, even though speaking in front of a large audience terrifies me, I recently gave a speech at a Relay for Life event. And I’m so glad I did. Because my message touched people – which gave me energy and confidence.
Getting out of my comfort zone by doing these things before I felt ready has taught me some valuable lessons. Lessons that I’m sharing with you today. So that you can learn to start before you’re ready. And get out of being static or stuck.
Reason 1: Doing is the Best Teacher
You don’t know what you don’t know, right? This is yet another phrase that I’ve heard all my life – but never given much thought to what it really means. And, to be honest, I’m not sure that I completely understood it. But now I do – at least I know what it means to me.
It means that you’ll never know what you don’t know, unless you do something about it. And you learn best by doing.
Besides, you can plan all you want, but you can’t anticipate everything that could happen. Nor can you fully anticipate how you’ll feel and react in any given situation. So, how can you plan for what you don’t know? You can’t.
You’ve got to go do it – and learn along the way.
Reason 2: Mistakes are Magic
This is all about making mistakes and learning from them. Ever notice that you learn best after failing at something or making a mistake? Failure is often our best teacher.
And what we learn from making mistakes tends to “stick”. That’s because mistakes force us to re-think our assumptions, what we’ve been doing, and how we’ve been doing it. They require active thought. We must analyze what didn’t work and why to move forward. I’ve found that my biggest life lessons have come from mistakes.
One note: I think we should reconsider using the term “failure”. Because if we learn something and take that learning to move forward, then it isn’t truly a failure. Only if we give up and choose not to move forward would it be a failure.
Reason 3: Acting Creates Momentum
Planning can go too far and create analysis paralysis. I know I’ve found myself caught up in it from time to time. You can get stuck planning for every contingency you can think of. Never mind the fact that you can’t anticipate every contingency (which is why some of us get stuck in the planning phase and never move past it).
Besides, acting creates momentum automatically. And the knowledge gained by moving forward (including the tough lessons learned along the way) give you additional momentum.
This doesn’t mean that I advocate not planning. Planning still has its place. And I don’t believe jumping in without any knowledge or education is a good idea either. However, most of us don’t ever feel ready to do something new, regardless of how much or well we’ve planned. It’s scary.
There comes a point where we must get started – even though we don’t feel ready. All we must do is take the first step and the momentum created by that step will help us along the way.
Reason 4: It can be riskier to do nothing than it is to get started
I used to delay acting on something new because I thought that acting was too risky. But I failed to consider that sometimes it’s risky not to act. This was a big lesson for me (and one that I’m only beginning to think through and apply to my life).
Sometimes, you’ve got to carefully consider which is the riskier move: staying put or starting something new. When you analyze the situation carefully and honestly answer the question, you may be surprised that there’s just as much (or more) risk in doing nothing.
Besides, starting something new doesn’t mean committing yourself to it forever. We humans tend to believe that once we go down a path, there’s no turning back. But that’s just not true. We can always turn back or branch off onto a new path. The choice is ours.
Reason 5: Purpose is revealed primarily through action
Believe it or not, your purpose in life isn’t to plan and never (or almost never) take action. So, what is your purpose? I don’t have the exact answer for you. But I do know that you’re going to get much closer by doing something – especially when moving towards something that is exciting to you (and even a bit scary).
There’s a reason for the excitement.
When you go down a new path toward something new, there’s an energy there. And that momentum discussed earlier plus the lessons learned through trial and error? Both of those will create additional energy and help to inspire you. You’ll be honing in on what you truly want. And that’s what will make you feel like you’re honoring your purpose in life.
What if acting tells you that this isn’t something you want after all? Then you’ll know. You can move forward with that knowledge. And you can change course. See the last paragraph in Reason #4 above.
I’m now a full believer in starting before I’m ready. I’ll think through where I want to go and why, and will educate myself and plan when necessary. But I won’t let planning stop me or delay me from moving forward. Because I want to continue to learn and grow. And I believe it’s one of the best ways to continue in my growth and personal development.
So, where are you on the “start before you’re ready” scale? Do you jump in and start before you feel ready or are you an ultra-planner like I used to be? If the latter, I encourage you to get started before you feel ready.
