Two weeks ago Murray and I were visiting my dear friend Celine up in Big Sur.
We had always been sisters of sorts with some uncanny parallels: We’re both 37; half Asian, half European; graduates of Brown University; with family in California, Thailand and Costa Rica.
But that’s where the similarities stop.
Celine’s 6-months pregnant, living in an old off-the-grid homesteader’s cottage in the Los Padres National Forest without internet and a full 15-minute walk through the redwoods from the nearest road. She’s working as a gardener at Esalen and about to marry a modern-day Paul Bunyan who splits logs and turns wood.
We spent two blissful days together hiking, hot-tubbing, and picnicking… we even engaged in the extreme sport of axe and knife throwing into the pile of lumber in their backyard.
I started getting curious….
Here she was 5-weeks away from getting married and 3-months away from giving birth – two of the biggest events in any human’s life, and she was… carefree.
So I asked her the Big Question that was racing through my mind…
I asked her: “Are you ready?”
And her answer taught me a LOT about life and business.
She looked at me and said: “As ready as I’ll ever be…”
I laughed.
The truth is:
- You become a parent by having a baby.
- You become a world traveler by buying a plane ticket.
- You become an artist by making art.
- You become a coach by coaching your first client.
- You become an entrepreneur by making an offer.
You don’t become any of those things by preparing to take action — through researching, packing your suitcase or buying supplies.
The common denominator of all these things is ACTION.
You become the person you want to be by taking action.
That’s it.
There is no if, and or but. You become what you want by taking action.
The irony is that the more work you put into trying to get ready, the further you get from simply being ready. It’s so easy for preparation to turn into overpreparation, for planning to turn into overanalysis – to allow your mind to create blocks and challenges that aren’t really there.
Every big thing I’ve ever done in my life involved a leap of faith.
No amount of preparation ever prepared me for hosting my first Summit.
No amount of preparation ever prepared me for stepping out on the stage and speaking to several hundred people.
No amount of preparation ever prepared me for leading my first Mastermind.
I just did it. And a part of me knew what to do…. And the feedback that I got, which is so important to learning and growth, allowed me to course correct, iterate and improve…
So make the mindset shift from: “I’m not ready” to “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
And the best way to make this shift is by taking action. That’s why I wanted to invite you to join me in Live Your Message LAB… the over-whelm-free way to take action in your business every day so you can grow it beyond what you ever thought was possible. You’ll get monthly step-by-step business growth experiments and all the coaching and community you need to make it happen!