Last week I said yes to an opportunity that I didn’t feel ready for at all. I went ahead and said yes to something that completely terrifies me because I don’t know how it’ll play out, and I’ve never done anything like it before.
It got me thinking. How many times have I said yes to an opportunity that I didn’t feel ready for, and how often has it paid off?
Like the time I decided to move to London with no job, no friends and nowhere to live when I arrived. And yet, despite the lonely moments, I found my way and survived to tell the tale.
Or the time I quit my job to start a business with no savings, no business plan and no idea how to make it work. And yet, despite the many hurdles, I figured it out and created something truly fulfilling.
Or the time I decided to run a conference for 500 people, with no budget, no venue, and no back-up plan if it failed. And yet, despite the possibility that nobody would turn up, they did and they asked us if we could do it again!
I realised, that since I made those decisions (despite not feeling ready), some pretty amazing things have happened. And heck, when things haven’t worked out – I’ve learnt a shedload as well.
At the most recent Founder Series (an event series I host in London for entrepreneurs in the wellness industry), the co-founder of HelloFresh, Patrick Drake, shared an important piece of advice.
He said “entrepreneurship requires you to get comfortable with being uncomfortable,” because in those moments of discomfort when we embrace the complete unknown… we give ourselves permission to experience something completely new and move into a new realm of possibility.
I realised just how true that has been for me.
Is it something you’ve felt too?
Have there been moments when a carrot is being dangled and you’ve heard that inner critic say: “you’re not ready, that’s for someone else, you can’t, not right now”...?
You wouldn’t be alone if you’d felt that queasy feeling in your tummy and clamminess of your palms. In fact, if I don’t feel nauseous nowadays when making a big decision, that in itself unnerves me!
Rest assured, when I booked that one-way flight and when I resigned from my cushy office job unsure of what lay head; a part of me wanted to just wait a few months (or years).
But the key, I’ve recently discovered, to making a decision in that moment… is this:
Make decisions from where you want to be, not from where you are right now.
For me, that meant picturing what my life would look like living in an incredible city on the other side of the world – and making a decision from that place.
It meant imagining the feeling of running a successful business, serving incredible clients with something of real value – and making a decision from there.
And it meant asking myself: “if not now, then when”?
Can you relate?
What would taking that chance look like for you?
Are you missing out on opportunities that are right in front of you because it feels uncomfortable, unrealistic or a little out of your league?
Seth Godin says, “if you wait until you are ready, it is almost certainly too late.”
Let your mind wander to that life you dream of for yourself, and ask: where could that image take you this week? What would it look like to just jump in, and figure it out as you go?
Revel in the discomfort and know that the more convenient alternative – to wait – is to withhold your valuable ideas and gifts from the world, for yet another day.
I’m behind you,
LA x
