We sometimes hear some people say: “I will start this or that as soon as I have gathered all the means, or as soon as I have mastered all the parameters or when I am sure that I will not fail”. Many people have golden ideas, ideas that have great potential to change their lives and those of the thousands of people around them, but they do not dare to take the first step. They sacrifice them because they are afraid of not succeeding, afraid that people will laugh at them, afraid of failing.
To undertake is to seek to create value, wealth or simply something different from ideas. Having good ideas is one thing, implementing them is another. If you want all the indicators to turn green before you commit, it simply means that you have a mindset marked by fear of making mistakes (or fear of failure) or that you are an anxious person who wants everything to work perfectly. It is like a person who wants to take a trip and says, “I won’t leave the parking lot until I make sure all the traffic lights turn green on the route I’m going to take.” Do you think this person is very lucky to undertake this journey?
If you want to be an entrepreneur, one of the things you must do is to make your mistakes, your allies. Instead of avoiding them, mistakes can serve as a compass. They can help you question some of your initial assumptions and readjust your objectives (according to the variants as you progress…). But if you are one of those who waits for all the indicators to turn green, you might never get started. You will always stay in the lot, unable to defend what you believe in or face adversity or the unknown. Isn’t it easier to stay in the crowd and blend into the routine without ever trying to question your current situation?
But what do you gain from staying in the car park for years? If you think you deserve better, do not wait until you have full control of all settings before you start. Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources you control (Howard Stevenson). Once you have assessed the potential of your ideas, go for it and get wet. The fear of failure and the pursuit of perfectionism will never get you off the ground.
Coach Jacques Mutikwele (www. Jacquesmutikwele.com)
