Start Where You Are- How to Start Before You’re Ready

You Don’t Have to Be Ready to Start

My creative friend, if you’d told me 7 years ago that I’ll be doing what I’m doing right now, I’d have said, “Get out of here”!!!  Seriously! Because at the time, I couldn’t see anything in my life that will lead me down this path. I know that a lot of us want to see the big plan for our lives before we start working towards that future. But it doesn’t have to be so. Just start where you are.  Don’t wait to be ready before you start.

It’s like driving on a foggy day.  Visibility is low on such days. But as you advance through the first few feet of visibility, the next few feet ahead of you become clearer and before you know it, you’re making progress towards your destination.

I read a story about how Richard Branson, started his Virgin Atlantic Airline. He’d been stranded at the airport because his flight to Puerto Rico suddenly got canceled. So he decided to charter a private plane although he didn’t have the money to pay for it.  Then he went around and told the other stranded passengers that he had a private plan, would they want to join him for a fee? He got enough people to pay for the charter plane.

Months later, he got the opportunity that started his airline company. At the time, Branson didn’t know much about the airline industry.  He was just a passenger who had a problem, saw an opportunity, and took advantage of it.  The rest, as they say, is history.

I know very often we worry about not knowing enough, not having practiced enough or you say, if only you were as good as this person or that person.  Or if only I knew this technique or that technique. The truth is nobody starts out fantastic.  Everybody stumbles and sometimes even falls along the way, especially when they start.  But start they do.  That’s the only thing they’ve got on you. They start!!!

Start where you are. Start even if you feel like you’re not ready.  

Branson started before he knew everything about the airline industry. There’s something you have in common with Richard Branson that I don’t think you realize.  Just like you, he doesn’t know some things. But that never stopped him. When you start, you’ll figure out what else you need to know.

Our need to know everything before we start is a sign of our aversion to risk. But risk is a certain part of life, though. Some things will work out and others will not.  But you’ll never know unless you take a step and start where you are. Look at Richard Branson, he’s been very successful at so many business ventures but do you know he’s failed at many of them too? The question is how many people remember his failures?  Not many! And how many people think of him as a successful man – almost everyone who’s heard of him.

The point is, don’t let the thought of possible failure stop you.  Failure will not define you.  Your subsequent success is what people will remember you for. Don’t let your lack of knowledge about something stop you either. Embrace an attitude of lifelong learning and accept that failure is part of life. Just start where you are right now.

I started along this path of being an artist because an acquaintance was asking about how he could get his handkerchiefs monogrammed. I looked up the price of monogramming online.  Just like Branson, I charged him to provide a service for which I didn’t own what I needed to make it happen. I got the money from him, added some more and purchased an embroidery machine. The rest is what you see now – my journey through the textile arts.

In conclusion, I just want to tell you to start where you are. Stop trying to answer questions which may arise 10 years from now and just get started today,

Warmest regards,

PS: You can’t see beyond the fog unless you step into it.

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