Start before you are ready
Start Before You’re Ready… Or So They Say
When I first stepped into entrepreneurship, I kept hearing the phrase “Start before you’re ready.”
But every time I heard it, something in me resisted.
Why would I start something I’m not fully prepared for?
In my mind, ready meant prepared—and who willingly chooses to dive into something unprepared? Not me. So I didn’t.
I stayed in the planning phase, working hard toward becoming a coach, focusing on readiness like it was the ultimate badge of honor. Until one day, I asked myself:
“Where in your life have you started before you were ready—and how did that turn out?”
The answer came quickly and clearly: Motherhood.
I always knew I wanted children. In fact, I became slightly obsessed with the idea after being told I might not be able to have them (a story for another day when we have more time). Still, I had a timeline. I finished grad school at 24 and decided 30 would be the perfect age to start a family. Six years felt like plenty of time to live a little more, build my career, and meet the person I’d raise a child with.
But life had other plans.
Just 13 days after my 27th birthday, I found out I was pregnant.
And while part of me was excited—especially after thinking it might not be possible—the next wave of emotions hit hard:
WTF?! I’m only 26. I have 13 days and three more years before I’m supposed to be ready!
I panicked. I didn’t feel ready—mentally, physically, or financially.
But despite the overwhelm, there was no other choice in my heart. I looked down at my belly (which, at that point, looked like nothing) and said,
“Okay, little man... let’s see how this goes.”
Becoming a mother taught me that there is no perfect time for anything. There will always be a reason to wait, a story we tell ourselves about why now isn’t right. Our minds instinctively go to everything that could go wrong. But sometimes, you have to take what you do know—and go with it.
I didn’t know much about motherhood, but I did know this:
The adults in my childhood could only meet me as deeply as they had met themselves.
So I made a promise—to go deep. To meet myself over and over again, so I could meet my son with that same depth and presence.
I wasn’t fully ready.
I was terrified.
But I was committed.
And that commitment has made me a better version of myself.
Starting before I felt ready forced me to rise.
My son’s birth stretched me in ways I didn’t know I was capable of.
He helped me realize: the perfect moment doesn’t exist—it must be created.
Perfectionism is procrastination in disguise.
And when we wait for “ready,” we often make decisions rooted in fear—and fear-based decisions rarely lead to alignment or joy.
We say “I’m not ready” without ever truly defining what ready even looks like for us—independent of the world’s expectations.
So today, I challenge you:
Start where you are.
Use what you have.
Commit to learning as you go.
Because sometimes, it’s in the becoming that we realize we were more ready than we ever knew.
Questions for the Collective
1.What does ready look and feel like to you?
2. How many times have the idea of not being ready held you back?
3. What have you given up in your life because you did not feel ready at the time?
4. If anything, what do you need to forgive yourself for?
5. Where in your life have you started a journey before you were ready? How did it turn out?
6. What would it look like for you to start now?
7. If you were to start now what would be your first step?
8. How would you celebrate embarking on this new journey?