YOU ARE NEVER READY! OR ARE YOU?

If there was one thing that moving day taught me it was that "you are never ready!"  But that's okay, no one ever is!

Regardless of the time and effort that you put into the event "you are never ready!"  You spend hours on 'experts' blogs; you comb through books and magazines articles; you talk to friends, colleagues, mentors.  But you are still not ready.

You've run through all of the possible scenarios (that you could think of) and planned for every potential roadblock (read catastrophe) ... but you aren't ready!  Or are you?

No matter how much research you put into planning, no matter how many experts you seek guidance from, no matter how many contingency plans you have ...there will always be a scenario that you couldn't have possibly foreseen!

What do you do?  YOU GO ANYWAY!  YOU PULL THE TRIGGER!  YOU LAUNCH!  YOU HAVE TO!

Everyone's expertise is based on their experience, what they've learned from other's experiences and what they've read in 'history' books (magazines, blogs, websites, real books).  No one can predict with certainty the future 100% of the time.  So once you have put in a substantial amount of effort and the timing "feels right" you launch, you go, you pull the trigger!

After recently getting married to my gorgeous wife, we consolidated two homes into one.  The events were about three weeks apart.  We researched and planned for the first event, we learned from it, we corrected our plans for the second event.  While it all went pretty smoothly there were still hiccups.  We were very blessed, there weren't any catastrophes, but there were hiccups.  It's going to happen.

So pull the trigger ... do your research/due diligence ... but pull the trigger!

Pull the trigger!

I've often times heard people (read "myself") criticizing others for shooting from the hip.  At least that is how it appeared.  As though they spent zero time thinking through a decision and just reacted.

It's one thing if you are in Target with your shopping list and see a deal on something that you just know you'll use (ex. consumables like deodorant, toilet paper, etc).  And it's quite another if you are in Target and you are pulled in by the display of rechargeable, extendable Swiffer ceiling fan sweeper display.  The colors are so vivid, the price is within budget (did you have a Swiffer budget?), the extension is up to 10 feet ... it goes in your cart.  Not a well thought out purchase?  Perhaps.  Especially when you get home and realize you don't have any ceiling fans.  Shooting from the hip, yes.

Please don't shoot from the hip ... but please be able to, as well as, know when to pull the trigger.

I have suffered all my life from not being able to pull the trigger.  Yes, I like most have made impulse purchases.  How else would a 500 piece bucket of Bazooka bubble gum end up in my cart at Costco?  But when it came to buying a new mower or dishwasher, two things I knew I needed, I suffered from analysis paralysis for about two years!

In looking back, I'm pretty sure that I was only looking at how much the items were going to cost and not fully considering the benefits.  Of course, I also didn't want to be separated from my money.  When I finally bought the new lawn mower I realized that it was saving me at least thirty minutes a week because I didn't have to keep stopping to fix the broken wheels!  Over the course of a year of mowing this has to be more than fifteen hours.  Assuming my time is worth something, let's say ten dollars an hour ... the savings in the first year was $150!  The mower (which I paid about $450 for at Lowe's) pays for itself in just three years!

And yes, I did finally buy a new dishwasher, but the benefits calculation was harder for me to quantify. Maybe I am saving on electricity, maybe the dishes are more sanitary, who really knows?  But I can say that I am now able to run the dishwasher, carry on a conversation and do other things in the kitchen at the same time.  Again, my time is money ... so I'm sure the dishwasher will pay for itself in just a few years.

What the heck is my point?  Opportunities can be lost!  Some opportunities do linger, but the "profit" potential from them fades.  Will the mower or dishwasher that I bought be less expensive in two years?  Yes.  But the savings in the meantime likely outweighs the extra cost.

So when opportunity knocks, at least, look through the peephole in your door before dismissing it.  And conversely, every knock on your door is not always an opportunity that you want to take advantage of, look through the peephole before you open the door.