I was reading this book by Elif Shafak and it forced me do some intense thinking. The first question that came out was why do we wait when we have dreams to chase?
Sounds naïve but think about it.
All you do is wait – wait to feel ready, wait to feel confident, wait until you’ve got it all figured out.
The only thing that happens is you wait endlessly, losing the time you could’ve used instead to move.
All that overthinking, overplanning goes to naught because you wanted to wait instead of doing something about it.
The Comfort of Waiting (and Calling It Planning)
You’ve to be honest here. Waiting feels productive, isn’t it? You get to say you’re working on something.
You spend your time on research, then on analysing that data and making reams of notes. Then you create plans, and backup plans, and then backup plans for those backup plans.
That looks like a lot of work. Feels justified.
But the reality is you’re still where you were earlier.
And the reason is not because you need more clarity or preparation; you’re avoiding the discomfort of taking those first few steps.
Why? Because starting something means risk making mistakes, stepping out of your comfort zone, facing embarrassments and failures.
So, you decide to wait some more and call it preparation.
I’ve seen this closely. A colleague of mine wanted to start something by herself. Inspired by her, I too started thinking on similar lines.
Fast-forward a few years and here I’m trying to work on my plans while she’s still stuck in the old job. Reason – she’s still working on it and doesn’t want to repeat my mistakes.
It’s my mistakes that have moved the needle forward for me, taught me what to do and not do, showed me what worked, what didn’t.
Had I not taken that step of quitting a secure job and trying, I would still be ‘waiting’.
Waiting for the right time won’t ensure success for any project. Your actions will. You’ve to be ready to learn along the way.
Movement Creates Answers (Thinking Doesn’t)
What you tend to conveniently ignore is that thinking harder doesn’t get you clarity; your actions do.
It’s only when I started out, did I realise what was wanting. Every step forward was a learning moment. It showed me what needed to be done, what needed adjusting, what I needed to learn or unlearn.
Those feedbacks were my guides. The preparations provided me with the knowledge but the actions were what gave me the feedback.
All those unknowns, some I was waiting to resolve and some I was oblivious to until they hit me on the face, they all appeared only when I began.
When you’re thinking, you’re assuming and preparing. But you don’t have any evidence. That evidence comes from the actions you take.
Unless you actually do it, there’s no way you can learn.
What you need to understand is there’s no perfect plan or strategy or moment. It’s all a myth created to justify your waiting.
Life doesn’t follow your neatly written plan. It has its own plans to interrupt, rearrange, and sometimes trip you.
So, how do you insert your perfect starting point into the unpredictability of your life? By just starting, even if you’re not fully prepared, and learning on the go.
It’s better to take a few tottering steps than waiting for that perfect one.
Progress Doesn’t Need Precision
If you’ve read my posts from a few years back when I started writing, they looked more like the school essays (a hangover from years of correcting such writing).
The first drafts were messy and awkward. It felt constricted and uncomfortable. My mind was still not ready to let the words flow out naturally.
Each post had 4 readers (3 family members and one friend) whom I would hound for feedback.
Every feedback was another imperfect step, giving me more clarity about what I needed to do.
Slowly but surely it got better. Somewhere along the way my confidence grew as I experimented with other systems and processes.
I thought I had all the answers. But its only when I started on this journey did I realise how much more I had to do and figure things by myself. That’s progress.
Had I waited to be better prepared or get more insights, the only thing that would’ve happened was I would’ve lost time; the learning would’ve happened only after I started.
It’s better to start messy and work towards better results than keep waiting for the right moment.
Move First. Understand Later.
The biggest obstacle is expecting to get it right the first time. That’s why you justify spending endless hours on planning and preparing.
It’s not an exam paper, it’s life. The imponderables will get you either ways. So it’s better to get started without waiting for the perfect answer.
All you need is a starting point. That’s when the path will reveal itself to you with every step you take.
And as for the answers you’re waiting for, you’ll find them waiting for you as you move.
