There I was in 2019, sweating through all of the things I thought I needed to start a business.
“How am I going to take payment?”
“How am I going to manage my books when business gets full?”
“How am I going to talk about what I do, so that it’s crystal clear?”
These three plus 100 other questions, and none of this mattered much, yet.
Maybe you’ve been there? You’re at the starting line, no wait, you’re in the warm-up area before the starting line, no, scratch THAT, you’re in the shower with an idea to do something big – and you start thinking through all the things that will come after you start.
Like I’ve experienced many times, you’re trapped by “the middle”. It feels good to plan through all of the curves and milestones and challenges you think you know you’ll face, but it’s impossible to plan for them all well. Especially with where you’re standing now – looking at a drafted map, with no clear idea of the terrain ahead, because it’s new – you’ve never been in that exact situation before. You can think of it like climbing a mountain, standing in the parking lot at the trailhead, with your studied map in hand. Your end vision has you standing on top of the mountain, the air feeling a certain way, you’re tired but accomplished. Your map shows switchbacks, elevation changes, and distance. What it doesn’t show you are blown-out sections of trail, fallen trees and boulders, or unexpected animals. Those are all parts of the terrain you’ll learn about when you’re “in it”. This metaphor has helped me in thinking through strategy, a difficult conversation, or coaching a leader or team through a big change that they want.
As I shared in a recent LinkedIn post, from Chip & Dan Heath, the authors of “Switch”…
“When you’re at the beginning, don’t obsess about the middle, because the middle is going to look different once you get there. Just look for a strong beginning and a strong ending and get moving.”
Try to catch yourself buried in the daydreamy details of the middle, and ask yourself:
“Do I know enough to get started, ready to take the first small step?”
“Do I have an inspiring vision of what I hope to end up with?”
“When I get to the middle, how do I want to be as I learn about new detail of the terrain?”
Many of us love creating and studying maps for all sorts of things, but the unknown of the terrain makes us uncomfortable. The terrain is the often uncontrollable “middle”, it’s tough, even impossible to create a map for what you haven’t done yet. But with a commitment for how you want to “be” in the middle, in the terrain, you can take things on more comfortably and confidently. “How do I want to be when I learn something unexpected?” – trusting yourself to be calm, resourceful, and committed can ward off the trap of getting stuck on the middle before you’ve started.
And really, the only way to find out what the middle is really like, is to get started. ✨
Here are a few resources I’ve enjoyed and have been sharing with clients:
1 // In “mental mayhem”? Here’s a quick move to bring you out of it. (2 min read)
2 // Help yourself get through “overwhelm freeze”. (5 min read)
3 // ”I never get bored with the basics” Here’s a great lesson from Kobe Bryant that can help with being in “the middle”. (5 min video)
