Just Get Started – Learn As You Go

Moosehead Dock – Maine

Nike has been working on the Just Do It campaign for quite a while. The premise is pretty simple… when you need [or want] to do something – Just Do It. Apparently wearing a pair of Nike shoes helps.

I was thinking about the projects I’m involved with right now.

I noticed an interesting bit of truth emerging.

Often times we keep talking about how someday we are going to do such and such a thing.

But here is the deal: someday doesn’t exist.

What is Keeping You from Starting?

I recently commented on a blog post wishing someone a great 2014. His response included a question, “are you doing anything new or interesting in 2014?” In my reply I mentioned that I was thinking about starting a blog to help creatives [photographers, designers, etc] get their work online using WordPress.

He replied back and said… “well it can’t hurt to try.”

I had an epiphany of sorts.

My question to me, “why not start and see what happens?”

Minimum Viable Product

Now, I do believe that there are reasons that we should wait to start some things.

For instance, it usually isn’t a good idea to work hard all week on a project and then launch it on Friday. Give yourself the weekend to think about it and make a few changes.

Or maybe we have a number of projects that we are trying to wrap up. Once they are finished we will have a bit more freedom to attack other things. Don’t do new things just to make yourself more busy.

I’m sure there are other good reasons to wait to start a project, but if you can look at your idea and see what the “minimum viable product” would be – that is where to start.

• If you want to start a blog. Focus on one post per week.
• If you want to write a book. Focus on one thousand words per day. Or even 500.
• If you want to eat a whole moose. Focus on eating one bite at a time.

You Will Learn as You Go

One big thing that holds a lot of people back is the belief that they need to know everything about whatever it is that they want to try… before they start.

The fact is, the more we learn about a specific thing, the more we realize that we will always be learning.

I’m a big fan of learning as you go. It seems to be how I learn best. When a crisis arises and I need to fix whatever is broken I find my learning curve spikes.

Learn as you go. There is no need to know everything before you start.

What’s The Worst Possible Outcome?

What is the worst possible thing that could happen to you as a result of starting sooner than you were planning to?

• If you want to start a blog. 6 months from now you might decided to walk away from it. Seriously. That’s the worst case scenario I can think of. [Unless you are stealing content. Don’t do that.]
• If you want to write a book. You might find out you’d be better off reading books. Writing is hard. If you really want to do it, you can.
• If you want to eat a whole moose. You might eat too slowly and the moose meat spoils. [technically you could choke on the meat and die. Don’t do that either.]

Why Is This Relevant?

Because I need to take a large dose of my own medicine.

For instance. Today I had a contact I needed to make. I simply wasn’t looking forward to it. It wasn’t till I was writing this post that I realized I needed to Just Do It! The results were better than I was afraid they would be!

I think you can apply the Just Do It mentality to a lot of things. Don’t force things, but if you are waiting because you are afraid you might feel awkward… that’s no reason!

Are you putting your dreams on hold because you are afraid of what people are going to say? God gave you those dreams. I think if He gives you a dream you owe it to Him to give it a shot. It might not turn out exactly how you thought it would, but I guarantee it won’t turn out as badly as you are afraid it will.*

What are you waiting for?

*Ok… maybe guarantee is too strong. Things can go very badly. Please use your head and don’t jump out of a plane without a parachute. That’s not smart. Ever.