Waiting to Be Ready Is Like Waiting for Grass to Grow in Your Ears

Clarity comes when you do the thing you keep avoiding, not when you over-prepare

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Most days, I’m not ready to do the dishes.

I walk around them. Do some light stretching, make some coffee, and maybe send a voice note, all while I mentally prepare myself for the monumental task of actually doing them.

Then, eventually, I do them. And it takes a whopping 7 minutes. Sometimes less, sometimes longer, depending on whether or not I’ve entered into a flow state and am now deep cleaning the whole house.

Tasks and ideas usually sit in my many lists for a long stretch of time before I finally rip them out like a band-aid.

The brewing, the ruminating, and the idealising are where my ideas spend the most time.

They like it there—it’s comfortable and safe. But I don’t. It’s mildly infuriating.

I’m currently “almost finished” with several projects I’ve been working on for who knows how long. I certainly don’t know, because working on one project for me means simultaneously beginning three more.

I work for myself, so no one’s breathing down my neck to hit deadlines. It’s wonderful. But since there’s no real consequence for pushing a deadline—which realistically, I was never going to meet if I kept adding more sub-projects into the mix—the only real consequence of my procrastination is not making money.

Which, quite honestly, is the most reliable motivator I know.

Perfectionism will keep you poor, burnt-out, frustrated, and watching ships pass.

Needing money, on the other hand, will get you moving before you’re ready, which is exactly what you need.

My mom loves to tell this story of when my older brother was around five or six and was preparing himself to jump off the diving board at the pool. He stood there, on the ledge, for the better part of fifteen minutes.

Should I jump? Should I retreat? Should I hesitate for all eternity?…

Eventually, he exhausted himself and walked over to my parents and asked them, “Can one of you just push me in please?”

I find this to be the perfect remedy for perfectionism and overthinking-nism.

Jump. And if you can’t jump, get someone to push you.

I’ve been legitimizing my procrastination for some time now. I’m good at fooling myself, it seems.

It’s looked like a lot of things, including me wanting to have a full brand identity and vision, before releasing my first product. Or feeling like I have to offer everything all at once, neatly packaged and complete. Or even, telling myself that it’s not “ready” until it looks sleek and polished and feels worth people’s money.

The worth people’s money part is the worst place to get stuck in. You may never get out. It’s very relative and makes you question whether you should even put a price tag on anything. Leave that place before you even arrive.

The truth we all know is: at the end of the day, nothing is ever really ready.

Everything is always changing—especially online. If you’re a creator of any kind, you can’t afford to wait for the right timing. You can’t build a strategy around things that haven’t happened yet.

So this week, in light of all this frustration, I have decided that I’m finishing something. Finally.

Something that’s been delayed for too long. I’m opening up a shop on Etsy where I’m going to sell digital products. Mainly Notion templates, planners, journals and other PDF resources that cover all these things that I have and still do struggle with.

I have about 15 half finished products marinating, so this week, I’m finishing one and opening shop.

You can all hold me accountable, and even if you stay quiet, or never read this, I will still carry the pressure that you are there, counting on its arrival next Tuesday, May 20th.

I’ve decided to call this first product The Multi-Ideas Manager. I think… Unless you all have better ideas!

The point of this Notion Template is to help people do what I struggle with the most: making sense of too many ideas.

I discussed this dilemma with

Kelly Van de Vliet

in our latest podcast episode, all about having too many ideas and not knowing which to choose, or where to begin.

If you haven’t already, you can listen to it here:

Episode 2: Help! I Want to Do Everything.

I created this template for myself, and anyone else with the idea overload syndrome. The goal of this is simple: One place to capture everything, sort it all out so you can find your billion dollar ideas, and then (the hardest part) choose what to pursue.

It’s not just for storing your thoughts, it’s for figuring out what’s actually aligned with your values, strengths, and goals.

Here is a preview of it… and proof that it isn’t just an idea in my head!

I’m launching it next week. If I don’t, come after me.

The moral of the story for this week is: clarity doesn’t come before you start—it shows up after you do.