Why You Don’t Need to Feel Ready to Start Your Business

A few days after I signed my Big 5 book deal, I sat there staring at my laptop, wondering if I should just open a new Google doc.

I had this picture in my head of how it would go. Some official, beautifully formatted document would appear, and I’d sit down and write my book like I already knew exactly what I was doing.

Instead, I clicked a few buttons and made a plain blank doc titled MY BOOK. No fanfare. No sudden clarity. I just spilled some water on my hoodie and stared at the blinking cursor.

I froze.

So I did what most of us do when we’re avoiding the thing we actually need to do. I cleaned my closets. I reorganized junk drawers. I alphabetized my pantry and put everything in matching glass containers. I did every single thing except write my book, because I was waiting to figure out how to do it perfectly first.

I researched how to write a book. I researched how to structure a chapter. I read conflicting advice from a dozen different sources, all things I probably should have figured out before I signed the deal, not after.

At some point I decided I had nothing left to lose. So I wrote 56 messy pages. Chapters 1 through 3, done.

Then I waited for my editor’s notes, stomach in knots, bracing for a sea of red ink. What I got instead was an education. She showed me how a chapter actually flows, and it was basically the opposite of what I’d written. It was humbling. I felt like an idiot who’d landed a book deal without knowing how to write a book.

But with that feedback in hand, each chapter got a little smoother. A little easier. Each one needed a little less correcting than the last.

Turns out I never needed to learn how to write a book perfectly before I started. I needed to throw my first pancake chapter on the griddle, let it be a little bit of a mess, and stay open to learning so the next one could be better.

If you’re waiting until you know exactly what you’re doing before you start your business, your podcast, your course, or your next launch, here’s the truth: perfection doesn’t come before you start. It comes because you started.

Stop planning. Start doing.

In episode 255 of On Your Terms®, I share more on how perfection keeps you stuck—and how your “first pancake” move might be the best start your business needs.