When you REALLY don't know what you're doing

April 25, 2022

Remember when you got that first "real" job or had your first "real" baby?  I remember being in the hospital with my son, thinking to myself, "Are they really going to let me take this kid home?"  "How do they know I know how to take care of him?"  "What if I just suck at this mothering thing?" 

Well, creating and launching a product is kind of like that.  It is pretty scary the first time you do it.  It is hard to trust that you know the "right" thing to do, or if there even is a “right” thing to do.  You second guess how and when to do everything. It is a guessing game for a while. For a long while. It is a game of test and try and try some more.  

You can buy the programs, listen to the podcasts, hire the coaches, which, by the way, is one of the BEST investments I have made in myself, but you have to do the work.  You have to put yourself out there.  You have to fail.  You have to find your own way.  I think you just have to find your peace with the process.  And learn to trust yourself, which for me has been one of the hardest parts.       

How do you trust yourself when you really don’t know the way?  How do you trust yourself when you are so new at this?  How do you trust the process when you don’t even know what the process is?

I think that’s what makes doing anything new so hard.  It makes us question our potential and capability.  And a lot of times it forces us right back into the comfort of what we already know and can expect.  Even if we know it isn’t right for us any longer, in so many ways, it is dependable.  It is what we can count on.  It is what makes us feel safe.

It reminds me of that famous quote, “If you want something you’ve never had, then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done.”  What they forgot to say is that it feels pretty shitty sometimes.  But, then again, so does staying the same.  I guess it’s just a matter of deciding what you really want and which you prefer.  The discomfort of the unknown or the pang of staying the same?