Want to launch your own business? Start NOW to get lucky!
Starting before you are ready means that when your opportunity does finally come among you’re giving yourself the greatest chance of getting off to a running start.
A few years ago I fell in love with the idea of surfing. I had no idea how or when I could make it happen but when that opportunity came along I wanted to be ready for it.
One major problem: I had never even come close to trying surfing before.
I had no idea how or when I could make it happen. Back then I was living in Stockholm. Not the obvious starting point for a surfer.
But I KNEW I would make it happen at some point.
When that opportunity came along I wanted to be ready for it.
So I started training for it. I checked out what kind of skills you need and what exercises are good for a wanna-be surf chick. And I went for it. I started running to get my cardio going and did loads of power yoga for balance and strength.
I did this for YEARS before I finally got to try surfing. But it really taught me something.
Starting before you are ready means that when your opportunity does finally come among you’re giving yourself the greatest chance of getting off to a running start.
Or surfing start.
Do it today!
Whether you’re waiting for an idea for your business or passion project, a chance to say yes to a physical adventure like climbing a mountain or sailing around the world, becoming a parent, or even meeting your soul mate, find out what you need to know and just start doing it.
When your business idea does finally reveal itself to you, for example, instead of saying ‘I can’t do this – I don’t know the first thing about to run a business’ you’ll have already started to learn about marketing and finance. You’ve started adopting healthy and effective lifestyle habits for busy business owners and you’ll at least know what you don’t know. So you can either outsource it or add it to your skill set later.
This works on three levels:
1) Your small steps will power you forwards.
Waiting for something that is out of our control is so flippin’ frustrating. Whether it’s coming up with THE biz idea you’re waiting for or getting the time/cash to get going on your idea, actually taking small steps towards it each and every day helps you feel that you are doing something important to make it happen. Which is so much more invigorating than just waiting around while binging on Netflix. (No judging here – I’ve been there!)
2) When you are eventually presented with that opportunity, you’ll KNOW that you can do it
If you’ve already started work on sharpening the knowledge and skills you need for your biz/product you’ll have so much confidence, know-how and maybe even contacts. Otherwise it’s really easy to talk ourselves out of opportunities. We convince ourselves that we can’t do it– even if we have been dreaming about it for years.
3) It might take you further than you can ever imagine.
In the beginning you’re motivated by the end goal. Say, the launch of your new product. But learning new stuff and getting sh*t done is really going to boost your self confidence and prove to yourself that you can follow through. Which is probably going to attract some other amazing opportunities. You might find your life changing far beyond what your original goal promised!
Luck is preparation meeting opportunity
As Queen O says: “I believe luck is preparation meeting opportunity. If you hadn’t been prepared when the opportunity came along, you wouldn’t have been lucky.”
So, challenge yourself right now:
1) Research what you’ll need to know or be able to do when that opportunity comes your way. Practise public speaking? Learn how to set up an email list? Know what to do about your book keeping?
2) Write a list of all the small steps you need to take.
3) Take the very first small step. That might be as tiny as signing up for a free marketing ebook or finding a child minder for 1 hour so you can sit and run through some product ideas in peace. Then take the next small step. And the next.
And me? Two years after I started training I did finally get to go surfing in Cornwall. So fun! But SO challenging – even with pre-training. So I was really glad that I started early.
But the sea (much like most adventures and running a business) teaches you a lot about yourself. And as a bonus I made friends with an amazing group of gals and chaps.
Chasing the waves even took me on exciting adventures to Morocco (where the above photo was taken), Portugal and Sri Lanka. And it was one of the reasons I decided to move from London to Devon in 2014, where I’ve started a hop farm with my husband. SO much more than I could have imagined.
TELL ME: What are you dreaming of and what first steps can you take to get there? Let me know in the comments below!
