“I don’t know where to start!”

This week I’ve been talking to a few people who are keen, eager, and ready to start their businesses!

They’ve got an idea they’ve been dreaming about for … ages. They’ve been plotting and planning for … ages. 

But many of them have got a bit stuck on the learning stage. They think they have to know every last thing about their subject before they can launch themselves as a service.

Might that be you?? But this isn’t usually the case.

If you’ve been nurturing this passion for … ages, Then you probably already know more about it than almost everybody else - those who aren’t already doing it, that is!

You see, we often perceive that there’s a much bigger gap between where we are and where we want to be than there actually is!

We think that those who are already doing what WE want to do, have some kind of superior brain, superior knowledge, superior empathy and understanding …

And while they probably do have superior knowledge, most of that knowledge has come from the DOING rather than the preparation. 

Riding a bike

Did you learn to ride a bike by reading a manual?

Did you sit a written exam on bike-riding before you ventured out?

No! Course not! You got on the thing, You wobbled and you fell off the thing. Then you got on again, wobbled some more and fell off again.

And so you went on till you could whiz about - “Look Mum, no hands!” - racing with your friends. It was endlessly DOING it that got you able to do it. That bike: you were desperate (I’m assuming you were a child when you learnt) to keep up with your older brother, your friends. To show that you were just as good as them and to join in their adventures. 

Qualifications

But somewhere along the line as we grow up and as we’re schooled into submission by the system, we think that we can’t do ANYTHING unless we pass an exam in it first!

I remember the placard waved when the government here brought in higher exam requirements for people to go to Art School. It read,

“Rembrandt had no O Levels!”

(O Levels being the general exam at school-leaving age at the time.)

How stifling it can be if talent in one area is denied because a few exams haven’t been passed.

It’s true that Renaissance Man Leonardo da Vinci would have had no trouble passing these new requirements, but many brilliant artists may have struggled - largely because of seeing no sense in wasting time studying when they could be creating! 

Artists in general manage to sidestep a lot of this way of thinking. This is often because enlightened artists - musicians, writers, actors, for instance, recognise and foster talent in youngsters and bring them on regardless of how they do in school. 

A friend of mine was conducting an internationally renowned professional choir at the age of 11, all because his talent was recognised and no-one wanted to see his CV.

His ability was clear to see in what he did. Sadly, this concept is not popular in many other fields. Though hang on a minute … which business school did Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Alan Sugar go to???

Exams - who actually needs ‘em?

Apart from Doctors, Lawyers, and the like, where we REALLY do want to know they’re fully qualified! In most cases, this qualifications requirement is redundant. It’s the passion, the commitment, and the experience that count, and none of those can be studied!

So you see, think back to that bike: you didn’t spend your time studying the manual and you didn’t spend your time creeping about with one toe on the ground.

You wanted to ride fast! and you wanted to ride NOW!

And think how you can apply that to your present situation. What you need to do is take the brakes off! So where do you need to start? Really?

Get DOING! 

Let your ideas flow freely! Show the world what you can do! Don’t wait for someone to give you approval! and be sure to join us in Creativity Central where we look deeply into just this kind of thing.