Start Before You're Ready

There's a funny thing about fog. If you're standing still, it looks like an impenetrable wall. But start walking, and suddenly you can see just enough path for your next few steps.

Most people waiting for the fog to clear never leave their driveway.

I was reminded of this yesterday when I watched a kid learning to ride a bike. He wasn't waiting for a guarantee of no falls. He wasn't demanding to see the entire route mapped out. He just gripped those handlebars, wobbled terribly, and pushed forward.

That kid knows something most adults have forgotten: clarity comes from movement, not from meditation.

"But what if I fail?" people ask me. Well, what if you do? I've yet to meet anyone who regretted trying something brave, but I've met plenty who regretted waiting for perfect conditions that never came.

Here's a secret about courage that nobody tells you: it's not about feeling ready. It's about being ready to feel unready.

Think about every great adventure story you've ever heard. Did anyone ever say, "And then they waited until they felt completely prepared and totally confident before starting their journey"? Of course not. They started with a mix of excitement and terror, armed with just enough courage to take the first step.

The Wright brothers didn't wait for aeronautical engineering degrees. Sara Blakely didn't wait for fashion industry experience before inventing Spanx. They just started, figured things out along the way, and let their courage grow with their experience.

Three truths about beginning scared:

1. The path becomes clearer once you're on it. You can't see around corners while standing still.

2. Courage isn't a personality trait – it's a muscle. Each scary start strengthens it.

3. The best time to begin isn't when you're ready – it's when you're ready to be not ready.

I have a friend who calls herself a "professional beginner." She starts a new scary thing every month. Sometimes it's small (learning to juggle), sometimes it's big (starting a business). "The secret," she says, "is to make starting things your comfort zone, not the things themselves."

Remember that time you thought you couldn't do something, did it anyway, and survived? That wasn't luck. That was you being braver than your fears.

Van Gogh once said, "What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?" But I'll take it further: What would life be if we only attempted things we were sure about?

Some practical ways to build your starting muscle:

1. Make your first step ridiculously small. Want to write a book? Start with a sentence. Want to run a marathon? Put on your running shoes.

2. Tell yourself you're just exploring, not committing. You're not climbing the mountain – you're just checking out the trail head.

3. Collect evidence of your past brave starts. Keep a "Courage Portfolio" of times you began something scary and lived to tell about it.

The beautiful thing about starting before you're ready is that it changes you in ways that waiting never will. Each uncertain beginning is like a key that unlocks a slightly braver version of yourself.

And here's the plot twist: that unclear path you're afraid of? It's unclear for everyone. Even the people who look like they have it all figured out are really just better at taking foggy first steps.

So start that project.

Submit that application.

Have that conversation.

Take that class.

Make that change.

Do it scared. Do it uncertain. Do it anyway.

Because the fog isn't going to lift until you start walking through it. And when you look back, you'll realize that the courage to begin was actually the courage to become.

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"Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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