Winging It

May 25, 2011

Around here, a common question is, "how do I start?" and an equally familiar question is, "ok so...what do I do next?". In a way there are a lot of ways to answer these questions, ranging from suggesting that one trust his or her instincts and experiences to something that sounds more like, "first do this, then...". What I liked about this article is that the writer is voicing a universal phenomenon that can be wildly succesful and is affectionately known as 'winging it' but could be more specifically defined as having faith in the process and trusting oneself. Take a look at this excerpt:

My situation is blessed and I rarely let a day go by that I don't say a silent prayer in thanks for the position in which I've found myself, but good gracious is this hard.

The most frustrating part is that it is difficult to get into a rhythm in your work when you have no real understanding of the next steps you need to take. There's no opportunity for flow if both outcome and process are foreign experiences. There's just a lot of poking around and mystery and inadvertent negligence.

...Our progress has been slow for a variety of reasons. We have not launched as many new features as I would expect, or even drastically improved the ones we launched with. I own these problems, they can be traced directly back to my inabilities and inexperience, sometimes directly, other times in the form of my not having anticipated or recognized situations for what they were as soon as I could have. --Ben Pieratt

I don't know about you, but I have felt that way so often...that I don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm doing it, and because I'm figuring it out as I go, I'm more able to take accountability for my actions and possible mistakes because I'm focusing so hard on figuring out what's going on. We talk a lot about being an explorer around here, about trusting your instincts and quieting the noise to let your truth come through, and as with so many things, our desire to know what we're doing can sometimes stand in the way of finding out what we're actually doing! Interestingly, this gentleman isn't talking about exploring consciousness, but about his internet start up company. Tomaaato/tomahhhto, no? What do you think, have you felt this way before?