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Stop waiting for the perfect moment. Planning and preparation are important, but they’ll never take you as far as action will. The truth is, you’ll never have everything figured out, and that’s okay. Real progress comes from taking that first step—messy, imperfect, and unpolished. As Judge Lynn Toler wisely said, sometimes you just have to gather what you’ve got and make a run for it. So, stop getting stuck in preparation and start moving. The clarity you’re looking for will come as you go.

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Jump Before You’re Ready – Life Stories 183

Let’s get real. We’re all guilty of it—spending way too much time getting our ducks in a row before making a move. We draft plans, color-code sticky notes, gather every resource imaginable, and somehow always need just one more thing before we feel ready. Then what happens? We freeze. We overthink. We’ve collected every horror story and negative outcome during our ‘research’ and scared ourselves into stagnation.

Here’s the hard truth: planning is not progress. It’s a preparation step, but it’s never going to get you anywhere on its own. Only action will.

Take that first step in faith. Like Martin Luther King Jr. said, “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Read that again: You don’t need to see the whole staircase. You don’t need all your moves mapped out, and you definitely don’t need 10% of it figured out. Just one tiny percent of clarity is enough to begin. One percent is the faith that will put you on that first step.

When you speak to people who’ve taken on monumental tasks, you’ll often hear that they didn’t do all the research upfront—they just dove in. They didn’t obsess over every logistical detail. Why? Because when we try to predict every possible outcome, we plan based on our limitations, not our potential. And potential doesn’t kick in until we’re already in motion.

The truth is, intention isn’t good enough. Admiration for dreams and visions fades the second they remain just that: dreams. What people truly get inspired by is starting. When you actually begin, even if it’s messy and unpolished, that’s when things change.

A few years ago, Judge Lynn Toler said something that resonates deeply: “If I waited until I had all my ducks in a row, I’d never get across the street. Sometimes you just have to gather what you’ve got and make a run for it.” She’s right. Ducks never stay in a perfect line. One waddles off, the mother duck chases after, and the rest scatter. That’s reality. So, what are you waiting for? Trying to perfectly align things that inherently refuse to stay in order?

The truth is, you will always face unforeseen challenges. Planning can’t predict everything. The only time you really need to have every single detail in place is if you’re cooking some intricate dish, where every ingredient and step must be precise. And even then, there’s no guarantee the dish won’t flop. The bottom line: planning is never a guarantee.

Here’s something most people get wrong: all those small prep tasks—research, taking notes, setting deadlines—your brain considers them sub-goals. And when you complete these sub-goals, your brain gets a rush of satisfaction, thinking you’ve made real progress. In 2006, psychologist Ayelet Fishbach and her colleagues discovered that when people succeed at their sub-goals, they slack on their main goal. To your mind, every little task is its own goal, and your overarching dream becomes a secondary concern.

So, what do you do? Just start. Take what you have and move forward. If your goal is to launch a business, don’t bury yourself in endless courses and networking events. Put a product out there, even if it’s not perfect. Test the market. Get real feedback. Tweak as you go. You’ll learn infinitely more from messy action than from perfect plans.

The same goes for any goal. If you’re waiting until everything’s aligned, you’ll be waiting forever. It’s time to run, no matter how unprepared you feel. You’ll figure it out along the way because that’s how real progress is made.

So, here’s your call to action: Take what you can. Bolt forward. You’re never going to feel perfectly ready, and that’s okay. It’s not about starting perfectly—it’s about starting at all.

Remember, you’ll figure it out on your way to the top. Run, adapt, and let the rest catch up with you. Go for it!

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