on figuring things out

You’ll be figuring things out for a while, and that’s okay.

Figuring things out is part of the process. And follow the process we must, to achieve real progress.

Anyone who’s ever built or done something meaningful, has done so through trial and error. Their own trial and error.

Knowledge can be taught, but wisdom is earned through practice.

So put your ideas to the test. On the battlefield. In the arena. Day in, day out. Test your assumptions. Learn what works.

And leave your ego aside, because it will be messy. There will be setbacks and confusion, because this is the creative process. Iterative, experimental, raw.

Once you dial in on what works and what doesn’t, once you figure things out, the fog lifts and things clear up. At least for a while.

Until the cycle begins again. Until you embark on something new, something worthwhile, once more.

Embrace the ambiguity, the uncertainty. Both play a part in figuring things out. Yet that’s where many stop, paralysed by the unknown. But it won’t stop you. You’ve come this far.

Now cultivate the discipline to keep going.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. All you need is the drive to figure things out.

Get comfortable with the uncomfortable, that will make you unstoppable.

Thrive there, and you will thrive anywhere.