26 May Saddling up

My friend Karee called it “saddling up.”  And it was the best description I have heard for the strange malady that affects so many of my clients.  We spend so much time and energy getting ready for the thing we want that we actually never pursue it.  We’re working hard at getting enough training to do the job or losing enough weight to date or gaining enough experience to ask for more money.  We’re not even waiting for the moment to be perfect.  We’re waiting for us to be perfect. Hah!

What we are doing is putting off making the move, taking the step, sticking our toe in, and declaring to the world that we are something.  Trained enough, thin enough, experienced enough.  Whatever enough.  Enough already.

When I first decided I wanted to coach, I figured I better go to coach school for training and also credibility. Some folks hung out their shingle after the first set of classes.  Most, like me, went through the whole program first.  And I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who say they are a “coach” without having any coaching credentials at all…and they’re good at it, too.

There will always be someone better trained, with more experience and thinner doing the thing you want to do.  And there will always be someone not as trained, with less experience and heavier doing the thing you want to do.  Always.  But that doesn’t mean that you can’t do it too.

The most interesting thing about this affliction is this:  Of all the people I know, the ones who suffer the most from this condition seem to be those who already do have the talent and the ability to succeed.  Because they are also the ones who are conscious enough to be aware of all they can still learn, they doubt themselves the most.

When a surgeon makes his first cut, he has had a good education.  Is there more for him to learn?  Sure.  But he has to start somewhere.

I’m not saying that if you don’t have the skills to do the job you should be doing it anyway.  I’m not proposing a shoddy product or lack of ability.  If that’s the case, you won’t succeed no matter how hard you try.   The key is to realize when good enough is good enough.

As that famous horseman Will Rogers said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”