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Why You Should Start Before You're Ready (and 4 Times I Did)

“The key to success is to start before you are ready.”

— Marie Forleo

Hello friends! How are we all doing this week? Despite all the worry and fear in the world right now, I’m actually feeling pretty calm and content. I’m more of an introvert, so being at home and spending time with myself just thinking about life comes naturally to me.

So what have I been up to in my house lately? This week I started attempting to record a podcast - in fact this is my very first episode.

I thought it was rather appropriate for my first topic on the podcast to be about starting before you feel ready because...well...I certainly don’t feel ready to be podcasting but here I am!

The time I started a podcast

I first discovered the world of podcasts last year, and I’ve really started to enjoy it. I love three types of podcast the most - I like podcasts on personal development (of course!), podcasts for improving my blogging and marketing skills, and my guilty pleasure - murder mystery podcasts!

If you’re just getting started in the world of podcasts, I highly recommend checking out these 4 podcasts to get started:

They are fascinating! I listened to all of Dr. Death on a flight from Tokyo to Dallas and it made the time fly by. So keep that in mind for long-haul flights.

Needless to say, I’ve really gotten into podcasts lately - but I didn’t really ever have the desire to record anything myself. I’m a thinker and a listener but not so much a talker so hearing myself recorded is uncomfortable for me.

But, I’ve found a lot of purpose and meaning in developing The Jet Set Blonde blog and my mission is to help others create their jet set life as I’ve created mine. And part of this mission means reaching out to women in the way that they like to consume information. Some prefer reading blog posts but others would rather hear it. The work is worth the risk.

So I got to work. I got a proper microphone, downloaded some audio recording software, and I’m giving it a go!

I choose to be the type of person who starts things. When I start things, I can chase my dreams, I can experiment, and I don’t let fear of failure stop me. I’d rather live a life of doing and not just wishing.

If you look at the habits of successful people, one of them is that they start before they feel ready. If you’re working on something important, you’ll never really feel completely ready. You’re bound to feel uncertain, unprepared, and maybe unqualified. But you can’t let the thoughts around these feelings stop you from taking action.

You can wish for your dreams to come true for months or even years, but without a commitment to action, it’s a guarantee for those dreams to never come true.

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

— Wayne Gretzky

Any hockey fans out there? I love going to hockey games. I grew up going to Dallas Stars games with my family - I always looked forward to the nachos and hockey fights that occasionally broke out on the rink.

The most successful people you see out there with tons of followers or lots of money had to start from square one at one time. We all had to start at zero at one point.

The time I wrote my Master's thesis

Discomfort can be one of the reasons why people don’t start before they’re ready. But overwhelm can be another reason why people don’t start.

When I was a freshman at the University of Oklahoma, I heard about the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship program. This program allowed someone to study abroad while getting their Master’s on a full ride scholarship. I knew that this was something major that I wanted to accomplish.

After 4 years of hard work and preparation for the interview, I was awarded the scholarship. The following year I went to the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and I could not believe how fortunate I was to have this opportunity.

We had made it halfway through the year. I had gone home for Christmas in the US and we were coming back to start a new semester back in Scotland in January. I was dreading coming back - not because I didn't want to be in Scotland or because I didn't want to see my friends - I totally did - but I was dreading it because it was time to start writing our Master's thesis that would determine whether or not we graduated.

We started taking classes on how to write a thesis and how to do research properly. And as I was sitting in these classes I was just floundering around, thinking, “What in the world do I write about?” and “I have nothing good to say.”

This giant thesis project seemed so overwhelming to me - you had to collect different types of research, it had to be at least one hundred pages long, it had to have all these different resources to support it.

It felt impossible. And for weeks, I was debilitated. I didn’t feel ready so I wasn’t starting.

And the longer I wasn't starting, the greater my anxiety grew. It was like this cloud looming over me telling me that I needed to start but I had no idea how to.

Finally my anxiety grew so much that I felt like I couldn't handle it anymore, and I was like, “I just need to start...I don't care what it looks like at this point. Even if it's horrible writing and doesn't make any sense, I just need to start writing.”

And little by little, as I was writing and jotting down ideas and thoughts, the anxiety began to lessen. Slowly but surely, I had one page written, then I had five pages, then I had 10 and the words just started flowing out of me.

I had finalized my thesis a little over halfway through the semester, and I was happy with it. This was about the time when all my other colleagues were just getting started writing their own papers. They had procrastinated, and they were beyond stressed.

Because I started before I was ready, I was able to spend the last bit of my semester enjoying Scotland and taking in the landmarks and beauty around me.

The key here was to break down my thesis into small chunks and just start writing. I could always go back in and edit later, but it felt good just to get moving on something, whether it was perfect or not. And that process of just starting is what enabled me to finish before everyone else and without the stress of an impending deadline.

Taking small steps is a way to beat the feeling of overwhelm that stops you from starting. It’s what makes something manageable and approachable and it allows you to take action when you need to most.

the time I learned how to write

When I was in ninth grade, I had a teacher, Mr. Bradley. Mr. Bradley was a quirky, jovial and highly intelligent teacher that loved engaging with his students.

As much as I loved Mr. Bradley as a person, I hated going to his History/English class. Yes...we had History and English class combined at our school...odd, I know.

The reason why I hated to go to his class was because I was painfully shy and didn’t ever want to be singled out. Combine that with a severe drive for perfectionism. I was shy because I wanted to be perfect. My confidence at the time came from knowing that I could be perfect. If it was perfect, I could share it with the world because it was blameless. But if it wasn’t, I would drown in self-doubt and discontent.

Ninth grade was when we started learning how to write a formal paper. Mr. Bradley taught us a formula of sorts for how to shape your essay. We learned how to write an introduction, a statement, then supporting evidence, all the way to a conclusion.

It seems simple enough, right?

Well for me, this was excruciating. I remember spending entire weekends contemplating the exact perfect words to get this essay right. I would skip social events just to agonize over how to write the sentence. I was unable to just sit down and let myself experiment with my writing. I became so obsessed with hitting the formula perfectly, that I would end up staring at a blank piece of paper for hours without writing a single word down. Because if I couldn’t create the perfect sentence in my head, it couldn’t come out onto the paper.

In hindsight, it seems so silly, doesn’t it? There’s a reason why people brainstorm and jot ideas down.

If there hadn't been deadlines for these essays, I would have never finished a single one. This went on for a year. I truly hated sitting down to write.

Eventually I realized that it wasn’t Mr. Bradley who was the enemy here, making me write all those essays. It was me. I was getting in the way of myself. If I could just let up on myself and allow myself to be imperfect, my writing could start to flourish.

And eventually it did. By the time I was in college, I could churn out an essay in a single sitting. I didn’t labor over it; it finally just all clicked and made sense to me. But that’s because I finally just allowed myself to start when I wasn’t ready.

The process of getting started and allowing myself to make mistakes along the way led to an entirely new perspective on writing. One where I don’t fight it or criticize it. When you stop thinking “this isn’t perfect yet” and “this isn’t ready for the world yet,” then the action and results come so much more easily.

So what if it’s terrible? It’s okay to be awful at something because you’ve never done it before and it’s a part of the learning process. Or maybe your first time isn’t actually horrible, but every time you try, you’ll learn and grow and get better.

The time I learned how to cook

Who out there enjoys cooking? Personally, I like cooking as long as I have a glass of wine in my hand!

Growing up, my dad was the cook in the house. At the time I didn't really spend much time in the kitchen watching him, but he would always create these amazing dishes. I never saw him look at a recipe - not once.

On a leftover night, he would say “we gotta use it up,” and he would just look at what was in the refrigerator and come up with the most creative, delicious meals. It blew me away how he could do that.

I’ve definitely been spoiled by having dad as a cook when I was growing up. Like I said before, I never really paid attention to what he was doing in the kitchen. So when I went to college, I still didn't know how to cook. And I've got to admit, I somehow survived through college also not knowing how to cook.

I started telling myself a story that “I'm just not good in the kitchen” and “I'll never learn how to make a good meal.” I had resolved that I was going to be a mac and cheese connoisseur for the rest of my life.

Don’t get me wrong - I still adore a good mac and cheese, but that’s not a realistic meal to live on.

I really wasn't forced to learn how to cook until I started dating my now fiance. And no, before you jump to conclusions, he did not tell me I needed to start cooking for him; I actually wanted to start cooking dinner for us both when I had the time.

For me, I was most intimidated by cooking protein - I was always afraid that I was going to under-cook or overcook the meat. I remember one night we were in the kitchen in our first house together, and he asked me to start browning the ground beef.

And I had no idea what to do. What does that even mean - brown the meat? How do I know when it’s brown enough?

I was fighting the story in my head that I didn’t know what I was doing and that I was definitely going to screw this up. But my fiance was there and I could have him look over my shoulder to make sure I cooked the meat properly. This was a time where I definitely was not ready but with the support of others, I just started.

And little by little my confidence grew. I've got to say - it really helps when you have a fiance who never criticizes your cooking. He knows that if he does criticize it, I'm going to stop cooking so he’s a smart man!

After a few nights tentatively trying some meals, I then started a HelloFresh subscription. This really helped me to start understanding fundamental ingredients and spices found in many dishes and how I can start to be creative with my meals.

And today, I’m now at a point where I’m cooking dinner on most nights and I don’t even need a subscription box to help me feel confident in the kitchen.

When you change your story in your head and shut up the excuses that you’ve created for yourself, you can just start and practice as you go.

Because think about it, your thoughts around “I’m not ready” is really just an excuse, isn’t it? Change that story in your head to “I’m going to start even if I don’t feel ready.”

So those were just 4 of the times I started when I wasn’t ready -

The time I started a podcast
The time I wrote a Master’s thesis
The time I learned how to write and
The time I learned how to cook

The reality is - I’m starting things before I’m ready all the time.

What’s something you’ve been wanting to start but you’re unsure of yourself?

Have you been thinking about starting your own business but you’re afraid of failing?

Or maybe you want to lose weight but you feel like it’s not the right time.

It may sound cliche but trying and failing is so much better than never trying at all. There’s no perfect time or circumstance to get started. Stop waiting for it. The perfect time or circumstance will never come.

Have the courage to look past those fears and doubts and just get started. You don’t have to take on the whole dream on day one. Just have the courage to take one small step toward it each day.

I want to live a life where I took chances, made mistakes and then learned from them. I want to look back on my life in old age and be proud of what I accomplished and tell myself “Cheers for a life well-lived.”

Don’t you?

With love,

Key Takeaways

Number One:

You’re bound to feel uncertain, unprepared, and uncomfortable. Even the most successful people had to start from ground zero or day 1 and grow from there. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Number Two:

You may feel overwhelmed with the task of getting started. Breaking a project or goal down into small steps and milestones will help you to overcome the feeling of overwhelm that stops you from starting. It’s what makes the process more manageable and approachable, and it allows you to take action when you need to most.

Number Three:

It’s okay to be awful at something because you’ve never done it before and it’s a part of the learning process. Let go of perfectionism and allow yourself to make mistakes along the way. When you stop thinking “this isn’t perfect yet” and “this isn’t ready for the world yet,” then the action and results come so much more easily.

Number Four:

Change the story in your head. Just because you tried something and failed in the past doesn’t mean it will play out the same way now. Forget about your past story. Create a new story - one where you are starting before you’re ready and practicing until you succeed. When you change your story in your head and stop telling yourself excuses that you’ve created for yourself, you can just start and practice as you go.

Number Five:

The first step to success is to start. The next step is to practice. You’ll never feel completely ready before you start, so just start. Don’t sit and wait. Your future self will be glad you did.