If there’s one saying that’s kept me going in every single thing I’ve done in my life, it’s this one right here in the title^.

As a young decathlete, you get thrown into the competition not knowing how to do most every event on the schedule. But what do you do? Trial and error.

The more you compete, the more you look like you know what you’re doing.

Yes, there’s training sessions to sharpen your skills and become more familiar, but at the same time there’s so many events that we never truly felt comfortable competing in them.

You show up on the day and tell yourself, “I will compete and I will figure it out.”

It’s this mentality that I feel many people are lacking. They want to have the perfect plan or be fully prepared before taking any sort of action towards their goals. And I’ve been there. It’s riddled with the fear of looking incompetent or looking like an absolute amateur...because you probably are!

But you will always garner more respect for showing up and trying. You will never receive criticism from those above you for showing up and putting in the work. It’s the ones who just talk about what they’ve studied and what they plan to do that receive the criticism from the veterans…

I’ve seen this lesson play out in every other area of my life. Relationships, business career, finances, academics, etc.

The growth has always been in actually doing the thing…not talking about it.

You can study all you want but until you gain the courage to have that difficult conversation with your significant other, track where all your money is going and understand how you can improve, get back in the gym after a long hiatus, schedule that sales meeting, close that client, connect with an industry leader, or whatever you’re after, you won’t realize that growth.

It’s when you just say to yourself, “I don’t care what I look like, I’ll figure it out,” that you’re freed to take the actions needed to hit your goals. And damn is that a freeing feeling.

My mentor told me over and over again, “I thought I knew everything about business until I joined that first startup. I realized I didn’t even know the first thing about running a successful company…then I just started doing sh**.”

He would elaborate and tell me that they gave him free rein to operate how he saw fit. They trusted him and were confident that he would bring value just by doing what he thought was right.

He told me, “I didn’t know sh**. So I just started doing and knew that I would figure it out over time.”

The more he let go of his fear of looking incompetent, the more he learned. He was making the right decisions, taking the necessary steps to grow, and becoming an operator.

Fast forward a few years, they IPO’ed the firm and he became a rich man…and that journey started with him repeating that statement in the title:

“F*** it, I’ll figure it out.”

And that’s the statement I will continue to take with me through my 20’s. Do I know everything? God no.

I know my name…and that’s about it!

But that doesn’t stop me from figuring it out. It doesn’t stop me from trying. And it sure as hell doesn’t stop me from learning. We get there through actually showing up and working, asking questions, and evaluating our progress.

So whatever we’re after and whatever we’re doing, I’m sure we can figure it out…we just have to garner the courage to start the movement and begin the process.

So here’s to doing just that…in whatever crazy goals y’all are after 🥂

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@jake_spotswood

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