You Don’t Need to Be Ready, You Will Never Be

Let loose, let go and soar.

Don’t fool yourself. No amount of preparation will ever get you ready. Get going.

Picture this. You are at a crossroads in your life. It could be now, or some time in your past. A major event is about to take place, or not if you choose not to proceed. That is the dilemma, is it not? It could be an upcoming promotion, a job opportunity, a new business venture, or a marriage proposal. Consider how much mental and emotional energy you have spent or are about to spend at this point. Did you find yourself stressed out at this moment?

Chances are you will find yourself stressed. It’s totally normal. That only means you are like the rest of us. Humans are hardwired to resist change.

It’s what you do next that defines your future, and life may never be the same again for you.

I’m no foreigner in this area. In the past, I would have considered myself timid, introverted, and resistant to change. I just want to go about my life as any other day before. Change is like a hornet’s nest to me. If it doesn’t bother with my life, I wouldn’t want to mess with it. But as maturity comes along, I came to realize this.

Change is inevitable. Growth is change.

I count three moments that are key in my life. My marriage, the arrival of my first child, and then the arrival of my second child. Am I excited about them? Yes. Am I fully prepared for any of them? A big resounding NO! Do I still look forward to them? Yes, yes, and yes! You may choose any other major events in your life and the same would apply to most of them.

You can prepare for it mentally, physically, and emotionally. You could spend a lifetime getting prepared. Fact is, you can prepare, but you would never be able to be fully prepared for anything. There is always going to be one more thing to look into, more time needed, more confirmation or verification desired. There is always something more.

As I grow, I found the following helps tremendously, to put up less resistance, and to embrace the upcoming changes.

Stop finding excuses

It’s funny how a brain works. As much as you would like to think, we do not reason very well. The reasons you can come out with? Most of the time, it is just excuses and justifications based on the outcome that we want.

Our brains work backward without us realizing it.

Sit back and think about it. We always believe we are smart beings. We like to think that we know how to reason, decipher and decide after listing down the pros and cons. We don’t, unfortunately. Most of the time, here’s what happens. Given a situation, we unconsciously make our decision and then set upon finding the reasons to justify our decision. We work backward. If we decide against something, we would find all the reasons to support our inaction.

So stop looking for excuses.

Put on your explorer’s hat

In the olden days, where the map of the world is still being charted and America has not been discovered yet by Christopher Columbus, we are born with a heart of an explorer and an appetite for discovery. Now, the exploration that most of us do might be through our gadgets, within the warmth confine of our abode. We have curbed our instinct.

We no longer dare to travel through unfamiliar areas to learn. We fear failing. We worried about how bad we will look. Don’t be.

The quickest way to learn if anything works are by working on it. The sooner you work on it, the faster you’ll know the result. In the case that the result is not ideal, at least you would know about it and shut that door close and explore the other doors, instead of wasting time deliberating on the doorway.

Thomas Edison famously failed countless times before he successfully invented the lightbulb. Imagine how long it will take, or how dark our world would be if he procrastinates at every idea he has. There is not much to lose by exploring, there is so much to gain from it.

You are worthy

One of the greatest adversaries of progress is self-imposed unworthiness. I have always thought that I have low self-esteem. Until I discover that there is another term to it that is Impostor Syndrome.

Imposter syndrome is loosely defined as doubting your abilities and feeling like a fraud. It disproportionately affects high-achieving people, who find it difficult to accept their accomplishments. Many question whether they’re deserving of accolades. — hbr.org

Not many of us have absolute confidence in ourselves. Self-doubt creeps up on us every so often. It’s fine to feel unsure about yourself. Yes, it makes us feel uncomfortable but it also makes a good teacher. It gives us the urgency to get us prepared as much as possible. And the buck should stop there.

You should never doubt yourself until it renders you paralyze. If others around you have faith in you, why can’t you? If others doubt you, all the more reason you should have faith in yourself and prove them wrong!

Put a little more faith in your character, upbringing, experience, and expertise. You are as worthy as you think, and then much more.

The perfect time is NOW

There is no perfect timing. The only perfect timing is now. The best time you should have done anything is yesterday.

Don’t wait until things are in place. Don’t hold up until the stars are aligned. Don’t hope for fate or signs to come.

Make things happen. Build the connecting points yourself. Fail fast, fail often. Don’t wait until you can get it perfect in your mind before taking the steps. Nothing is perfect. Unexpected events will crop up along the way. Learn on the fly. Take the first steps, now.

You are ready. Go for it!