“I don’t have to know everything!”

A client of mine recently texted this to me.

It was something he had gotten, intellectually, for years.

But it had never really hit him.

Not only did he not HAVE to know everything.

He can’t. No one can.

But only when he actually REALIZED this could he take action on it.

Only then could he see how free he already was.

Letting Go of Control

Whether they are founders making their next move or successful executives thinking about a job or career change, I see one thing that gets in the way of successful people over and over and over.

It’s the idea that they can figure out how things are going to work out before they actually do anything.

The idea that if they do the right things in the right order it can create a predictable result.

And the idea that they CAN’T act until I have all of that figured out.

Anything involving action in the world is inherently unpredictable.

As much as you try to control things, I can assure you that success comes when you are willing to try stuff knowing that you don’t know what’s going to happen.

Taking action and letting go of your control of the result.

“But how do I do that?” you might ask.

The best way I know of is to see that you never really had any control in the first place.

Creating Through Action

One of my favorite pieces of advice is from coach and teacher Michael Neill .

“Try [stuff]. And if it works, do more of it.”

That’s really all you can ever do.

You can’t learn anything about the outside world when you remain inside your head. You have to take action and see what happens.

What may make perfect sense in your head likely has nothing to do with how things will actually play out.

Ever try to plan a difficult conversation? How long before the other person said something totally unexpected?

And yet, in that moment, you figured out what to do next. Even though it was completely different than what you planned for.

Your Greatest Talent

Your greatest talent is the greatest talent that any human being has—

The innate capacity to figure out things in the moment.

Now I’m not saying that your perspective, your experience, even your planning are not relevant. They are relevant and perhaps even critical. No two people will respond to the same situation in exactly the same way.

But that capacity to respond, in your unique way, is what has brought you this far.

Revel in it. Embrace it. Look for opportunities to use it.

Scary? A bit.

But trying to plan your life without living it doesn’t sound like much of a life at all.