You just have to start.
Jess Ekstrom
Forbes Top Rated Speaker and 2x bestselling author. LinkedIn Learning and TED Education Public Speaking instructor. Helping women become confident speakers and land more keynote spots, one mic at a time ??
"You just have to start."
This is one of my favorite quotes from the Bright Side Virtual Conference from Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix.
So simple, yet there's so much packing behind this quote.
A lot of times we look at successful people and believe that when they hit "go" they had a clear business plan, surrounded by helpful resources and confidently started marching.
When I started Headbands of Hope, I had no idea what GROSS and NET meant. Someone would ask me, "How is your business structured?" And I would respond "strongly." And don't even get me started about being pressured to have a five year plan. I had no idea what I was doing.
But I just pressed start.
One of the biggest things I've learned about business is that our ideas work better, grow quicker, and last longer when we engage with them, not think about them.
In other words, we can think about the chess board all day long, but we'll get a lot more clarity when we actually start laying down the pieces.
We can think about our ideas all day long and build plans, what-if scenarios, and create beautiful logos, but no kind of preparation compares to being on the mat in the arena while you're playing it out.
I used to be really good at just pressing start. Just saying yes and figuring it out later. Then something hit a snag in my brain- and I started to feel like I was in a fishbowl and everyone was watching me. So whatever I did or created, had to be the best. Which had the reverse effect...
When we feel like success is only winning the Super Bowl, we will never even make it to the coin toss.
Setting the bar too high also means that bar is going to whack away your dreams into the land of "some days."
Create messy first drafts.
Crumble up pieces of paper and shoot them in the trash can.
Pivot or start over when you need to.
Engage with your ideas.
Shake the hand of failure.
Be the rookie.
Open a new tab.
Give yourself permission to just press start.
Ads/Videos/Photos for Brands | Founder of Goodo Studios | Ex-professional ballet dancer | Creating content for 7-9 figure brands that turns viewers into profit.
4 年I have learned that by engaging with ideas, I can see if something is working or not. My strength is that I am a big dreamer and very idealistic, but the weakness is that I can be blind or over-confident. By engaging my ideas, I can humbly learn what works or does not work!
Co-Founder, Marketing Addict on a B Corp Journey, Community Builder, Music Fanatic, Pathological Optimist, Dad and Husband. A friend once called me a “Cosmic Glue Stick."
4 年I think preparation, to some extent, is important. I think it is better to prepare and prevent versus repair and repent. (Someone’s grandfather said that first.)