This is a skill that some people need far more than others, but this might be helpful to anyone who reads it.  I have had a lot of practice at this, starting a long time ago early in my life.

I always wanted to be a professional athlete, playing a sport for a living just seemed like the best life there could be.  Of course there is a lot of work and responsibility that goes into this, and to truly excel over others at the highest level takes a dedication that few can uphold.  I believe I was one of those people, I just wasn’t given the physical attributes that gave me a lot of choices on how to apply this gift.  If I had been 6’2″ in high school, I would have had a lot of choices of things to pursue, and then narrow them down to the one that gives me the best chance to reach the pinnacle of the sport.  Take baseball for example, many people believe that it is a God-given gift to be able to throw a baseball 90+ mph.  But this wasn’t my fate, and so I pivoted into something that I could give myself a shot.  I ended up chasing the dream of being a Pro Racquetball Player.  I didn’t have a template to follow, I had to figure out everything on my own.  It was a tremendous growth experiment that I unknowingly enrolled myself in.

Navigating the unknown became part of my lifestyle.  I never have felt like I have all the answers before starting something, or in many cases had a clear and obvious path to follow.  I learned to focus on the next step in the process, as that was all that was really important at that moment.  Even though I didn’t have control over the next step either, at least it was close enough to me that I could see a landing spot.  If I focused on the next step, I was moving forward.  I learned for this to be enough.

The next trick in the equation is to learn to trust yourself to figure things out.  This might be the hard part for some, but it is a vital skill in general.  I didn’t know what I didn’t know at the beginning, but I learned as I went.  I equate it to my last post about hiking the Camino de Santiago trail from Portugal to Spain.  It was a great adventure, and it pushed me at times to dig deep and get the walking for the day done.  But the part of the journey that applies here is this:  Find the next yellow arrow.  The entire Camino trail is marked with yellow arrows that point the way to go.  Sometimes they are spray painted on the street, sometimes on a light pole, other times an obvious ceramic tile embedded into the side of a building.  It was rarely the same thing two times in a row, so you had to stay vigilant to make sure you didn’t get off track.

Each day we set out, I did not download the route into the phone app that was available.  I was content to look for the arrows.  This kind of thing drives my wife crazy, as it seems I am just making things up as I go.  Which is sort of true, but her desire to plan everything in advance and have a gameplan for each thing we do escapes me.  It is not that I don’t care or am too lazy to do work ahead of time, but rather that I am more comfortable with bearing the unknown.  I don’t need to have everything laid out in advance, I just need to find that next arrow.  What a great life analogy….

You cannot wait until the perfect time to start a business or a family, as there is no such thing.  Life happens, sh*t gets in the way and things change.  If you don’t learn to take that next step you may find yourself ten years from now still sitting on the sidelines waiting to get in the game.  Learn to trust that you can figure things out along the way.  Once you’ve done this a few times, you now have proof that you can do it, so build on that.  Don’t get in the habit of continuing to think you are starting from scratch each time there is a new step to take.  At some point you should prove to yourself that you can handle it.

Most people have no answers to share with you, you’ll have to figure things out on your own.  Even a business mentor who also grew a start-up company from concept to acquisition is not playing exactly the same game you are.  You have your own parameters, limitations and needs which will differ from theirs.  It is always good to have someone shine a light in the darkness to keep you from stumbling around and bumping into things,  but understand that you are still on your own.  It is your path that you are walking, not following in their footsteps on their path.  In other words, an educated guess is as good as it gets.  ou start from there and learn to trust your ability to adapt, learn and pivot when necessary.  If you can develop this talent, you are lifting a lot of the limitations that most people allow to hold them back.

There is no easy to to move forward; planning everything out to a tee will seem to provide some comfort from the unknown, but as soon as things differ from your plan you are going to feel lost.  I am not advocating for not having any structure to what you are doing, but I do firmly believe that having some idea of what you’re setting out to do is enough to get started.  Much of life is learning on the job, so don’t hold yourself back by waiting for the perfect moment to finally get started.  This quote sums it up nicely:

Most men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to

the grave with their song still in them.

Henry David Thoreau

 

Life is short…don’t wait.  Go!

I wish you luck in your endeavors.