Feeling ready is a myth, and waiting for it quietly keeps your dreams stuck. In Part 1 of this two-part series on messy action, Lesley Logan unpacks why so many of us stall before we start and what fear is really doing underneath the surface. She blends personal stories with practical honesty about beginning before everything feels in place. If you have been waiting to feel ready, this episode is your nudge to start.

 

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In this episode you will learn about:

• Feeling ready is a myth that keeps you procrastinating.
• The hidden fears that quietly keep you stuck.
• Why ADHD makes you freeze and the simple fix that helps.
• Perfect timing is an illusion and the 2020 move that proves it
• Taking one brave step without blowing up your life.

Episode References/Links:

• Ep. 694 Stuck Series 1 - https://beitpod.com/ep694
• Ep 3 with Rob Mack - https://beitpod.com/ep3
• Submit your wins or questions - https://beitpod.com/questions

 

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Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:00  

When you wait and you're afraid to take action, it does make you feel safe, but waiting keeps your dreams safe, and also keeps them stuck, which means it keeps you stuck. 

Lesley Logan 0:12  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. 

Lesley Logan 0:54  

All right, be it, babe. How are you? Oh my gosh, welcome back to the Be It Till You See It podcast. This week, instead of an interview, it's me. Both episodes, we're actually talking about messy action, and we love messy action around here, because it's in the intro. If you're new to our podcast, sometimes we have interviews and recaps, and lately we've been adding these solo episodes in, and hopefully you're liking them. We'd love to hear topics that you want us to have interviews on, or that you want us to get some solo episodes on, if you want to hear my opinion on things, stories, things like that. That's why we're doing this, because people asked. So, here's the deal. I'm a recovering perfectionist and overachiever, and that means that I try to do things way before I'm ready, but I didn't used to be that way. I used to be someone who had to make sure everything was in perfect order before I would do the thing, which actually just meant that I was honestly procrastinating, because the reality is feeling ready is a myth. In fact, oftentimes when we feel ready, it's because the thing we want to do is no longer scary, because it's no longer we're the only one doing it. In fact, other people are doing it so much now, I just feel safe. And then it's like, well, do we miss our boat? Do we miss our chance? And the arguments would be that, no, you should just do the thing because you're the only person who can do what you do the way you want to do it, but if you're waiting to feel ready, you'll be waiting a long time, and then really we've missed the opportunity to do the thing, because there are lessons that we will learn in our quest to feel ready to actually get there. And so to be honest, we know ready is a myth, and we also know that if readiness was required, no one would ever begin, because being a beginner is scary. And when we see people who are beginners, we see them make mistakes, and we don't go, "Oh, what a beginner." We're like, "Oh my god, look at them doing that thing," right? So we have to have that same grace for ourselves, and no one truly ever feels 100% ready. It's hard, because on social media these days everyone looks like everything's curated and perfectly ready, but everyone's actually scared. Everyone's doing things as they go, and they just make it look like it's ready to go, but inside, nothing's ever ready. We just launched something today, and the link works for some people and not others. That doesn't mean we wouldn't prepare like a fuck ton, but weird things happen. Little tech gremlins get in there, so I just share that with you, because it's so easy to look at other people going, "Oh my god, they have it all together. So, when they start something new, of course, it's ready to go." No, everyone is doing the best they can, and then you won't actually know that things are ready to go until you get out there and you do it, and so you may as well just take the messy action, because you'll learn the most in the first place.

Lesley Logan 3:28  

Now, a few weeks back, we had a series on being stuck, and I find a lot of people are stuck because they actually are wanting to do something, but they're waiting to feel ready. In that series we talked about motivation isn't the problem, it's this: we feel stuck because we're not moving forward towards the thing we want to do, but we're not moving forward because we don't feel ready, and we put ourselves in this position, and we actually make it on our brain that we have to have motivation to get ready. I heard someone say we'd be ready to be ready, and I don't even know if that's possible. We have to be willing to be imperfect and to take an action based on the information that we have, and then reflect, correct, and continue, right? So take the first step and reflect and correct and continue. I'm thinking of one of our very first guests, he's like, "You're never going to see the top of the stair, but you could see the first one, and then when you take the first step, you'll actually see the second step." And that's kind of how everyone does it. Everyone does it, right? I have recently talked about how I have a teacher training program that I'm creating, and I've never created a teacher training program before. I've taught them, I've seen others, I've never created my own, and it's hard. And I like going, "Oh, I don't like how this is not organized," but to be honest, I have to move forward with the beta group, because the only way I'm organized in the right flow is to try to put it in a flow, right? That's the only way. 

Lesley Logan 4:42  

So, anyways, a lot of people also wait. I just want to say, if you are waiting to feel ready, oftentimes it's a protection thing, right? You have a fear of judgment, fear of failure, fear of success, a lot of different fears, fear of responsibility. Oh my god, what if it does work out? What if the teacher training program I am really excited about does work out? What kind of responsibility do I have now? Sometimes we have a fear of that, so then we make up reasons and excuses why we're not ready to move forward, because that fear is legitimate. It's totally real, and so I think it also just comes back to what your nervous system feels safe doing. Some people feel safe flying by the seat of their pants, and some people don't feel safe that way. And what? Look, it's a human need to need certainty, and that things are going to work out. It's also a human need to need uncertainty, and have surprises and experiments. So just know that you need both of those things. A lot of times we're protecting ourselves, that fear of judgment, what people think if I fail, and so, honestly, if you don't start, then you can't fail, right? But also, if you don't start something, then there's parts of you, the potential, the be it till you see it you, that also doesn't get to happen, and everything is moving forward, so you have to, as well, right? I think when you wait and you're afraid to take action, it does make you feel safe, but waiting keeps your dreams safe, and also keeps them stuck, which means it keeps you stuck. 

Lesley Logan 6:16  

The other reason that you could be afraid of taking messy action is, hello, my ADHD ladies, lots of ideas, no clear place to start, and you end up in a freeze space until something motivates you, and you end up in this focus mode that's just amazing to do. And so then the reality is you shouldn't label yourself as stuck because you're just overloaded, like you're overwhelmed. I do have a thing for this, so if I have an idea, I put an idea on this parking lot. It's on a big Post-it on the back of my door, and if I look at it the next day and I know what it is, then I can keep working on it. And if I look at it the next day and I don't know what it is, and I'm not as excited, I don't.

Lesley Logan 6:57  

There's a 24-hour rule with ADHD people, because we are dopamine seekers, and I will say that if you have ADHD, there is a good chance you are going to be good at taking messy action because of the dopamine kick, but also because you have so many ideas, you could get stuck, or you could use other ideas to distract you from the thing that you're really wanting to do, because you don't feel ready. So, look at that, ADHD is its own conundrum, but overwhelm is real, and I want to acknowledge that, because I don't want you walking away from this episode going, "Oh, I'm supposed to do this when I don't feel ready, but I have all these other things." No, there might be several reasons why you're feeling stuck and afraid to take messy action, and so we have to unravel like an onion. What's the thing that's keeping you stuck? What's the thing that's keeping you from taking the first step forward to see if you like the thing? Sometimes you have ideas on things you want to do or be, and if you don't actually start working on it, you might not realize that you don't like it. I've done some things I was really, really proud of at the time, and then the longer we do it, the more I'm like, I'm not really into this anymore. I want to make changes, but if I had never taken the messy action in the first place, I would always go, "Oh, someday I wish I'd done that thing." Well, now that I have more information, I'm glad I did the thing, and I'm glad it's leading me over here. And so I would just say your dreams will be more curated and more unique to you and more supportive to you when you take the messy action. 

Lesley Logan 8:22  

Another reason why a lot of people are afraid to take messy action is the perfect timing illusion. I'll start when... and here's the deal, there's no perfect timing. It's like that whole joke that you make a plan and then God laughs. I remember in 2019 Brad and I being in Las Vegas and really having a good time in the downtown area arts district, which is really close to our house now, and we're like, "Wow, we could really live here. Wow." And we had friends who owned homes there, and we're like, "We could own a home in Las Vegas, that is crazy. We should do that in 2022 or 2023. In fact, let's make sure that as we finish out what we planned for 2020, we are keeping in mind what we want to do in 2022 and 2023." Great. So then what happened in 2020? Yeah, we ended up moving to Vegas, because that was the perfect timing. Could you imagine if we stuck with our plan? No, we took the messy action. We moved. I mean, the reality is everyone took messy action in 2020 because that's what you had to do. That was the only option, right? So, I hope that that story helps you, because yeah, it's good to have a plan. It's good to do your research, and then sometimes you have to just move before you're ready. If you're feeling stuck, I get it, but it's just really a lack of movement. It's a lack of taking a step. Action does bring clarity and is the antidote to fear. It's why it's in the intro of the show. It's so funny that we're doing this episode after 700 episodes, because the reality is the intro is this episode. We often say, "I feel stuck," but really, let's leave the emotion and look more at a reality of are we just taking a step forward? Have we done one thing towards the thing we want to do? Especially for my ADHD people, sometimes we just need to start with one thing, and then it is the domino effect that we're looking for, right? And I will say, for my overthinkers, it's really easy to try to think your way forward, but you got to move your way forward. Action is more than what's in your mind. It's a physical embodiment. It's something that you do with your feet and your hands.

Lesley Logan 10:25  

It's sending the email, it's making the phone call, it's buying the URL, it's hiring the thing, it's exploring, it's doing the research, right? Do the research. I want to say, I get it. I get also the comfort in feeling stuck, and it's actually kind of comfortable, because then you always have a reason for why you haven't moved forward. If you have a reason, then you can't fail. But I also want you to know, it's one step at a time always. Being it till you see it is one step at a time. Messy action is one step at a time. I'm not saying blow everything up, right? My goodness, I think I've talked about this on the podcast before, but it took me a year to break up with a relationship I had before Brad. A year, because I was like, "Well, it's not the right time, I don't have the amount of money." And that's right, I couldn't blow my life up a year before. I did not have the situation to land on, so I worked. I tried to figure that out. I worked on the relationship and tried to figure out what I would do if the relationship didn't exist. I got myself ready to be ready, and then I kind of blew it up a little bit, but I did some messy action, but I didn't blow it up completely, because I had a landing pad. I will just say, don't punish yourself, don't harp on yourself. If you have been like, "Oh my god, Lesley called me out. I've been waiting to be ready for two years now. I've wasted all this time." No, you haven't. You have gotten more clarity, and this episode is hitting you when you need to hear it, that you are like, "Oh my god, okay, I'm gonna do the thing, I'm gonna take the messy action." Messy action is one step, it's not 20 steps, it's one, it's one. So, if waiting to take messy action, waiting to take action has been keeping you stuck, and we're acknowledging that now, and we're on the same page now, then the real question is how do we actually start moving forward, especially when you don't feel ready? So we're going to dive in deeper to how to start moving forward in our next episode, because we're keeping these bite-sized. We are, and I hope that that is helpful, because it's nice to have an hour-and-a-half-long episode that's inspiring, and of course I want you inspired, but also it's nice to have a bite-sized episode that just goes, "Oh my god, I have been living in fear, making excuses, researching myself to death, waiting to feel ready, and now I know I just need to take a next step." So, on Thursday, we're gonna talk about how to do that and dive in deeper. So, I would love to hear more about what you've been wanting to do. What have you been waiting to feel ready to do? That could be a first next step in getting your momentum going. Share it with the Be It Pod. Send it into the beitpod.com/questions. Let us know this is the episode that inspired you, and let us know what your win is. Your win could just be like, "I listened to this episode and I am ready to feel ready." Thank you so much. Send this to a friend who's feeling stuck. And until next time, Be It Till You See It. 

Lesley Logan 13:14  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.

Brad Crowell 13:57  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.

Lesley Logan 14:02  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.

Brad Crowell 14:06  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan 14:13  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.

Brad Crowell 14:17  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.

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