From one moment, one context, and one scenario to the next, we’re constantly oscillating between two states:
- Ready
- Getting ready
Ready is a noun. A state we attain and maintain… where we’re prepared to handle whatever comes our way.
Getting ready, on the other hand – that’s something different altogether.
Getting ready implies that we’ve identified our lack of preparedness and are taking specific actions to correct it.
Maybe we’re not ready to leave the house because we haven’t eaten our breakfast, dressed for the occasion, or completed some other task we need to finish before we move on.
Maybe we’re not ready to sign off on a particular deliverable as “completed” because we haven’t tested it, corrected errors, gotten a trusted colleague to sense-check our approach… or perhaps because we haven’t even started it yet.
These are discrete circumstances with black & white criteria for what ready looks like. Easy to judge, and easy to act on.
But what about everything else?
There are countless situations where the difference between being ready and getting ready is nothing more than a matter of perception.
That brings with it some good news & some bad news.
The bad news:
When the only way to determine whether we’re ready is how we feel, there’s nothing in the wider world that’s guaranteed to banish your feelings of self-doubt.
Without an objective way to anchor your judgment, you’re left grappling with cold reality all by yourself.
The silver lining:
When the only difference between being ready & getting ready is in your head, you don’t need anything or anyone else to help you make that shift.
It’s internal.
There are times when we’ll doubt our own judgment. But that cuts both ways.
We might argue that we can’t trust our own perspective. We’re biased – we magnify our strengths, minimise our weaknesses, explain away the reasons for our failure, and shrink from anything which challenges our beliefs.
Yes. Sometimes, we do overcorrect. Howver, most people go too far in the other direction. Beneath a thin veneer of misplaced confidence lies an anxiety-fueled denial of reality: one that’s designed to insulate the ego and prevent the progress we so sorely desire.
If you’re caught between these two states, and don’t know where you should be, ask yourself…
If you’re getting ready – when does it end?
When will you feel as if you’ve done enough, learned enough, prepared enough?
Will that day ever come? Or, like a sailor bearing towards a distant horizon, does it further and further away as you draw closer to it?
There comes a point when only action can drive progress.
The surest way to overcome self-doubt is to do the thing, learn from our results, and improve our performance.
It’s easier said than done, sure. But it’s still worth doing.