Stop Waiting to Feel Ready

Speaker: Wait, wait, no, I'm not ready yet.

Speaker: Uh, oh, we're on?

Speaker: Oh.

Speaker: Today, I wanna talk about something that stops a lot of very talented people, waiting.

Speaker: Waiting until you feel ready.

Speaker: Waiting into your work is better.

Speaker: Waiting until you have the right tools, waiting until you have more money, waiting until your website is perfect, waiting until you have enough followers.

Speaker: But there's a bigger one today.

Speaker: Waiting until somebody gives you permission.

Speaker: Or maybe you're waiting until you feel confident.

Speaker: And the problem is, sometimes you can spend years waiting for a feeling that never comes.

Speaker: Because the truth is, you may never feel completely ready.

Speaker: A lot of people believe that confidence comes first.

Speaker: They think, first I'll become confident, then I'll do the big thing.

Speaker: But most of the time it works the other way around.

Speaker: You do the thing and you survive it.

Speaker: You learn from it.

Speaker: You get a little better and confidence begins to grow.

Speaker: Confidence is often the result of action, not the requirement for it.

Speaker: Think about the first time you did anything monumental in your life.

Speaker: Maybe it was picking up a camera for the first time or picking up a brush to paint.

Speaker: Were you ready when you first started?

Speaker: Of course not.

Speaker: You didn't understand everything.

Speaker: Maybe you didn't understand what made your work powerful.

Speaker: And somewhere along the way, through doing it over and over again, you learned.

Speaker: That's how almost everything in life works.

Speaker: We begin before we fully understand.

Speaker: We begin before we're really fully prepared.

Speaker: We begin before we are completely confident.

Speaker: And then the process teaches us what we need to know.

Speaker: But as we get older, something strange happens.

Speaker: We become more afraid to be beginners.

Speaker: We become more afraid to look inexperienced, more afraid to make mistakes.

Speaker: More afraid to create something that isn't great.

Speaker: So instead of beginning, we spend endless time preparing, and prepare, and prepare some more.

Speaker: Yes.

Speaker: Now being prepared is important.

Speaker: I believe deeply in preparation.

Speaker: But preparation also becomes a disguise for fear.

Speaker: Sometimes we tell ourself, "I'm just not ready yet."

Speaker: Have you ever felt that before?

Speaker: Have you ever said that before?

Speaker: Because what we really mean is, "I don't want anyone to see me trying."

Speaker: That's different.

Speaker: Maybe you want to try something new that's been eating at you for a long time, but you feel you're just not ready yet.

Speaker: You feel your work needs just one more shot.

Speaker: Maybe it's your prices.

Speaker: Maybe you want to raise your prices, but you think you need a little more experience.

Speaker: Maybe you wanna write that book, begin that personal project, but you think you need a perfect concept first, a perfect idea first.

Speaker: Maybe you want to teach.

Speaker: Have an exhibit.

Speaker: Change directions completely from what you've done all your life.

Speaker: And you keep telling yourself, "Soon. Maybe I'll be ready soon."

Speaker: Soon I'll start.

Speaker: Soon I'll send the email.

Speaker: Soon I'll make that call.

Speaker: Soon I'll put the work out there.

Speaker: But soon is a very comfortable place to hide.

Speaker: And years, decades can pass, your life can pass as you sit out and wait in soon.

Speaker: One of the most dangerous things about waiting is that it feels responsible.

Speaker: It feels like you're being careful.

Speaker: It feels like you're being smart.

Speaker: But sometimes you're just not prepared for the opportunity.

Speaker: You're avoiding it.

Speaker: There is no moment when something suddenly taps you on the shoulder and says, "Okay, you're ready now. Go."

Speaker: That's not gonna happen.

Speaker: Most of the things that changed my life began before I had all the answers.

Speaker: I didn't know where every opportunity would lead next.

Speaker: I still don't know.

Speaker: But you gotta push yourself to do those things that you don't know, where you don't know the outcome.

Speaker: At some point, you have to make the move because movement creates information.

Speaker: Action teaches you things thinking cannot.

Speaker: You learn what works.

Speaker: You learn what doesn't.

Speaker: You learn what you need.

Speaker: And you learn what you don't need.

Speaker: But here's the most important part.

Speaker: You learn something about yourself.

Speaker: You learn that you are capable of more, more than you thought.

Speaker: Now here's something I want you to remember today.

Speaker: I heard this a lot: you don't have to see the entire staircase to take the first step.

Speaker: You only need enough courage to take that first step.

Speaker: Maybe your next step is very small.

Speaker: Maybe it's just posting one image today.

Speaker: Contacting a potential client.

Speaker: Or approaching somebody who you've never met before.

Speaker: That small step, it matters more than all the other steps.

Speaker: Take that first step because action creates momentum, and momentum changes everything.

Speaker: I have met so many people who say, "Oh yeah, I want to do a book. I'm planning to do this book. I'm working on this."

Speaker: And they put it off, and years go by and nothing happens.

Speaker: And pretty soon they forget they're even working on a book.

Speaker: Stop waiting.

Speaker: Today is your day to take that first step.

Speaker: Take that first step today, no matter what.

Speaker: Before you close your eyes today, before you go to sleep, take one step that you were afraid to do.

Speaker: That first little step.

Speaker: And then tomorrow, take another small step.

Speaker: That's all it takes.

Speaker: Always dream big.

Speaker: Bye for now.