Just Do It: Why Waiting Until You’re Ready Is Probably Holding You Back

Let’s be honest: how many times have you said “I’ll do it when I’m ready”?

You’ll start the business when you know what you’re doing. You’ll enter the competition when you’re more prepared. You’ll put yourself out there when you’re more confident. You’ll make the big change when the timing is better.

And then somehow six months or even years go by...

That was the conversation that truly kicked off the very first episode of Uncinched: The Unfiltered Horse Podcast. If we wanted to make a podcast for the horse industry and see it come to life we had to actually... well, start the dang thing even if we didnt know exactly how it would go.

The problem with waiting until you're ready

The thing about “being ready” is that it sounds responsible or even like the right thing to do, but in reality it's actually just a way for us to let the fear in us rule. 

In terms of Uncinched if we had waited until we felt completely confident before doing everything the podcast entailed, we'd probably still be sitting around talking about some theoretical podcast instead of actually having one. We didn't know exactly what we were doing, and honestly, we still don't have everything figured out, but we knew we wanted to try.

Fear has a sneaky way of disguising itself as preparation. Often times we tell ourselves we just need more knowledge, more experience, more money, a better plan, better equipment, a bigger audience, or a little more time. While yes, these statements might be true, on the larger picture it's just our brains stalling us from actually trying... Because underneath all those reasons is often one very simple thought: What if I fail? What if I suck?

Perfectionism is not the goal

Coming from myself, this may seem a little hypocritical as those who know me are quite aware of my struggles with perfectionism; however, I do try to push myself to do things even if I'm not feeling confident in the outcome and you should too. As many of us have experienced, the horse industry can be particularly good at making one feel like we have to have everything figured out before trying.

But let me spell out some truths for y'all:

1. There is always someone who knows more.

2. There is always someone who has been doing it longer.

3. There is always someone with a better horse, better equipment, better credentials, better photos, or a seemingly flawless Instagram feed.

BUT that shouldn't stop you from trying your best and going for it. The uncomfortable truth is:

You don't become confident and then do the thing. You do the thing, survive it, learn from it, and eventually become confident because of it.

There is a massive difference between waiting to do something until you have the skillset and believing you have to do it perfectly on the first go. One is ambition and the other is a really effective way to never start. Eventually, you have to take those first steps even if it's scary and the outcome is unknown.

You don't need to wait until you feel perfect to start. You just need to decide that the possibility of failure isn't going to be bigger than the possibility of finding out what you're capable of.

So... Just do it.

Send the email.

Enter the event.

Start the business.

Apply for the job.

Make the video.

Pitch the article.

Have the conversation.

Start the podcast.

The horse industry needs people willing to try

One of the reasons we wanted The Uncinched Podcast to exist in the first place was because we wanted to show people how to put themselves out there and try. Growth doesn't come from all the things you already know, it comes from the mistakes, the learning curves and the determination you have.

And honestly, that's where Uncinched began—with two horsewomen deciding that instead of waiting until everything was perfect, we were just going to hit record and figure it out along the way.

So, what is the thing you've been putting off? 

The thing you've been thinking about for months—or maybe years—and keep finding reasons not to start.

Maybe you're going to make mistakes.

Maybe it's going to be awkward.

Maybe your first attempt is not going to go as planned...

Do it anyway as “ready” might never arrive in the neat little package you're waiting for.

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath, loosen the reins and go for it.

Want the full conversation?

Listen to Episode 1: Just Do It of Uncinched: The Unfiltered Horse Podcast for the full conversation about starting before you're ready, kicking fear to the curb, and why perfectionism might be the very thing keeping you stuck.