As an Enneagram 5, I find myself struggling with this a lot. I want to research, learn, and study all the angles before I make a step. While this has its place in moderation, it also leads to analysis paralysis.
However, the key to why you need to start is that you learn by doing.
We Learn By Doing
It doesn’t matter how much you study a concept, until you’ve done the work.
We all know (and have rolled our eyes) at the old man yelling at the television while the football player made an incorrect play, as he stuffs his face with chips in a recliner.
No one wants advice from a critic; we want to know from someone who is actually taking the time to do the work.
No One Wants Advice from a Critic.
Because we know that while those doing the work may not be 100% accurate all the time, they will have loads of experience over the guy who is ‘perfecting’ his craft while not doing the actual work.
I’ll close with a story my professor told us once.
The sculpting professor had two pottery classes one semester, and he decided to run an experiment.
The first class, he gave the instruction to make the perfect vase. They could make as little or many vases as they desired, but their grade would be based on the perfect vase.
For the second class, their objective was to make a vase a day. They were to be graded on quantity completed.
Now, at first thought, one would think the students that focused on the perfect vase would be more successful, yet, at the end of the semester, the professor found the opposite to be true.
While the first class had focused on perfection, they had handfuls of vases, yet each had flaws.
His second class, on the other hand, had dozens and dozens to sift through. While many had the same flaws as the first class, he found that by making the same vase day after day, the students learned how to avoid these mistakes.
Only by keeping their hands in the clay, were they able to create a worthy vessel.
Thanks for reading.