“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Joe Sabah
This has been discussed in this space recently (here and here), but it’s worth saying again. There are so many situations where we as organizations and leaders of organizations have opportunities to be great, or to do the things we love doing, or to find our passion, or to make our vision of the future a reality – but we don’t do it.
Either things aren’t perfect, or something comes up, or there’s a barrier that seems insurmountable (hint: it’s not), or sometimes simply “…we’ll get to that someday” – and someday never comes. Think about all the successful businesses you know of, big and small. Do you really think the situation was ‘perfect’ when they started?
Of course not. There were problems with business partners, there were problems with customers, there were problems with the product or service they were providing, there were problems with competitors, there were problems with the government, whatever. But rather than view those things as deal-breaking barricades that were guaranteed to prevent success, the leaders who’ve been successful viewed them simply as barriers to be overcome. Then they worked to overcome them.
Too often I think that last sentence gets at the root of the problem. Everybody wants to be successful, however they define it. Not everybody wants to really work at it. We want to do things that come easily today and are comfortable, but being successful demands doing things that aren’t easy today and make us uncomfortable. Most people just aren’t willing to do that.
Think about the reasons you haven’t started the thing you want to do, or why your business isn’t moving towards the future you say you want to have. Is it really due to some insurmountable thing? Or is it due to the fact that you just haven’t been willing to do the things you need to do to make that change? Be honest. Then get stared. If you can’t get started by yourself, then get help. When you finally reach your destination, you’ll only regret that you didn’t start sooner. So get moving.
Great points Matt. There is even thoughts around now on committing the first 20 hours to a goal will give you rapid trajectory. 20 hours could be as simple as two hours per week and in ten weeks you will start to feel the momentum.
Thanks Mike. I’ve seen some of the thinking around the 20 hours and I love the idea. Whether it’s 20 or 15 or 30 or whatever, the point is the same – start with something simple and commit to it over time and you will get momentum. Get started!