Shoot First, Then Aim

All those years of being a good student at school, and a good employee at work, trained a habit into me.

Aim very carefully. Consider every scenario. Make sure the direction, the timing, and the conditions are all right before you take the shot.

Running my own business forced me to flip that habit. It taught me, often in a very uncomfortable way, to shoot first and then aim. For two reasons.

First, there is never a time when I feel fully ready. By the time I finally do, I’ve already missed the opportunity or the timing.

Second, no matter how much I plan or research, everything is still version zero until someone actually pays for it. Only then does it start to become version one, version two, and beyond.

Instead of waiting for the worries to fade, for the fear to leave, or for perfect health to arrive, I try to remember that moving forward imperfectly is an essential part of life.

We don’t finish so we can start.

We start so we can finish.