EPISODE 564 - Start Messy and Move Forward

Deborah Kozowski: Shift into an attitude of gratitude.

Narrator: Welcome to the Millionaire Woman show, where we'll be discussing leadership, business, human potential inspiring you to live rich from the inside out, unlock your creativity, stretch out of your comfort zone, break through your barriers, take inspired action and achieve epic results. Now, here's your host, three time best selling author, speaker and certified executive coach, Deborah Kozowski. Foreign.

Deborah Kozowski: Uh, and welcome to the Millionaire Woman Show. I'm your host, Deborah Kozowski. And today we are talking about starting messy and moving forward. And it stops. More dreams than failure ever will. Waiting. Waiting until we feel ready. Waiting until we know enough. Waiting until we're more confident. We waiting till the timing is perfect. Waiting until there's certainty. The problem is that many people spend so much time waiting, but they never actually begin. If you've been telling yourself, when this happens, then I'll do that. This episode is for you. Because the truth is, you don't need to be ready. You need to be willing. You need to be willing to start messy. You need to be willing to take imperfect action. You need to be willing to learn as you go. And when you do something remarkable happens. You begin creating momentum. See, there's a myth to readiness. Let's start talking about readiness. You know, people think that they have. What does it actually mean to be ready? For many people, being ready means confident. It means having all the answers. It means having the perfect plan. It means eliminating the uncertainty. But if we're honest, some of the most meaningful things we've ever done in life happened before we felt ready. When I think about readiness, I think about the night before a, uh, road race. You see the pictures of the athletes laying out their bib numbers, their running shoes, what they're wearing, their socks, water bottle. It's kind of this ritual, so you make sure you don't forget anything that you want to have with you at the race. And yet, so many things, so many factors can play. A thing that even though you think you're ready, you're not actually fully ready. Think about your first day at a new job. Think about the first time you became a leader or you saw yourself as a leader. The first presentation you ever gave, the first business you launched, the first race you entered, the first difficult conversation you had. Were you completely ready? Probably not yet. You figured it out, and I'm sure it felt awkward. But you learned, you adapted, and you grew up. The reality is that readiness is often something we're experiencing looking backward, not forward. We look back and say, I was more capable than I thought. But in the moment, it rarely feels that way. And action creates clarity. One of the biggest misconceptions people have is believing that clarity comes before action. They think, once I know exactly what to do, I'll begin. But clarity doesn't come from thinking. Clarity comes from doing. Imagine trying to learn how to swim by reading books. You can study every technique, every video, learn every stroke, but eventually you have to get in the water. And the same is true in life. You don't learn leadership by reading about leadership. You learn leadership by leading. You don't become confident by thinking about confidence. You become confident by taking action despite the fear. Every step provides feedback. Every action teaches you something. And every experience reveals information that you wouldn't have known sitting on the sidelines. Momentum creates momentum. Momentum creates confidence, and confidence creates bigger actions. So why not start messy? I want to give you permission today. Start messy. Your first draft won't be your best draft. And I know this because I sent in my thesis, uh, paper, my first kind of draft of a section. And I knew it was the first draft. So whenever the feedback came back, you know, they were like, you know, consider this is a learning opportunity. This is your first draft. And I'm like, yeah, I'm taking it for what it is. I'm looking for the feedback, and I'll adjust as I go. But that's taken me years to get to that. You know, three books and now, uh, a thesis paper. It's really, um, taking me a time to be able to just be messy and know that it's okay. Your first video won't be your best video. Heck, I remember I have three children, and when I made the first one scrapbook to the third one Scrapbook, man, my skills really improved. So much so that I wanted to go back to the first one and redo it all, which, of course, I haven't done. But it's just is a testament to how much growth has occurred over time. And I want to reassure you that your first isn't always the great job. But you got started, you got messy, and you moved forward. The first attempt will be your best attempt, and that's okay. Some people never start because they compare their beginning to someone else's mastery. They see someone who has spent years developing a skill expect themselves to perform at the same level, and that's unrealistic. Remember, every expert was once a beginner. And every successful person has a collection of mistakes, failures, awkward moments, and lessons learned. But what separates them from everyone else isn't talent. It's that they kept going A, uh, lesson on my own journey. Well, I've shared a few. And there have been moments in my life where I could have chosen to wait. I could have waited until I had everything figured out before building a coaching business. I could have waited for before stepping onto stages. I could have waited before pursuing new opportunities. I could have waited for certainty. But I've learned that certainty rarely is available up front. And what is available is choice. And I believe that choice is one of the most powerful gifts that we have. And if you ever get a chance to read the book A Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl, it is one of the most profound books on the topic of choice. And it has been a game changer for me to know that everything can be taken away. And everything allows you to choose which direction you are going to go. And choice makes a big difference. See, I believe that no matter what circumstances that we face, we get to choose the next step. We choose our response. We choose if we. Whether fear gets the final say. And often growth begins the moment we move despite the uncertainty. I have three questions want to share with you as a coach here. Question number one is, what are you waiting for? And I want you to ask yourself, what am I waiting for? And be specific. What goal, dream, or project or opportunity have you been postponing? Question 2. What story am I telling myself about why I can't start? Maybe it's, I'm not qualified, I don't have the experience, or I'm too old, I'm too young, I don't have enough time. Notice the story. And question three. What's one action you can take within the next 24 hours? Not next month, not next year, not waiting for everything to be Perfect the next 24 hours? Small actions create big transformations. Adjust, uh, as you go. One reason people hesitate to start is because they want guarantees. They want proof that everything will work out. And unfortunately, life doesn't offer many guarantees. But what life offers is feedback. Think of a GPS. When you miss a turn, the GPS doesn't spend 20 minutes criticizing you. It recalculates. And that's what successful people do. They don't expect perfection. They expect adjustment. They learn. They pivot, they recalibrate, they continue moving forward. Life is not determined by whether you make mistakes. Your life is influenced by what you do after the mistake. Do you stop? Do you learn? Do you. Do you continue? The cost of waiting. Well, let's talk about something we don't often discuss, and that is the cost of waiting. People focus on the risk of taking action. But what are the risks of staying stuck? What is the cost of another year of hesitation? What is it costing you to hold back on your gifts? And what's the cost of allowing fear to make decisions for you? Sometimes the greatest risk isn't failure. It's regret. It's looking back and wondering what might have happened if you simply started this challenge this week. I want you to choose one thing you've been postponing. Just one. And I want you to take some messy action. Not perfect action, a messy one. Write the first page, record the first video, send the email, register for the event, make the phone call, and ask the question. Take the first step. Remember, action creates information. Information creates clarity, and clarity creates confidence. And confidence grows through experience. You don't have to see the entire staircase to take the first step. You don't need all the answers before you begin. And you don't need certainty before moving forward. You simply need a, uh, willingness to start. The life you want is not built through waiting. It's built through action. One choice, one step, one lesson, one adjustment at a time. So stop waiting to be ready. I can't stress this enough. Stop waiting to be ready. Start messy. Trust yourself. Learn as you go. And remember where your focus goes, energy flows. Until next time. Keep choosing. Keep choosing growth. Keep choosing courage. And keep finding your way. Thank you for joining me here on the Millionaire Woman Show. I would love for you to go over to my website, uh, www.deborah kasowski.com. that is D E B R a K a S o w s k-I.com to learn more. And if you're interested in coaching, please send me a DM on social media and tag us rate. Review this episode. Let people know about the Millionaire Woman show coming on A decade. A decade. Seriously, my friends of podcasting, it's been quite the trip. As Muhammad Gandhi said, be the change you wish to see in the world. And as always, go out and make today great.