Sometimes people are quite surprised when they find out that most founders, no matter how successful, are simply acting on their initiative and taking a leap where others might not.
Many of the most successful people didn’t know anything about the business they ran now, only that they had a hunch around a demand for what they wanted to sell and went for it.
They listened to their gut.
Over the past decade (yikes!) of being in business, I’ve learned that gut feel is a remarkably powerful thing – both in business and personal life. It makes decisions that your brain might overthink and is almost always the thing you wish you’d listened to when you undoubtedly screw up a few times along the way after ignoring it.
I’ve been lucky that a byproduct of building Yena has been having the chance to connect with some incredibly successful, knowledgable people along the way who I’ve been able to look to, for advice on what to do next.
But as good as that advice is, it can get in the way of making decisions.
Long story short – the problem with the great business advice I was getting was that it all varied, so the decision in the end came down to me anyway. Maybe it was more informed but on most occasions it wasn’t and was simply about taking the leap, being confident, and executing an idea well.
The membership is a great example of that. We just did it. Iterated it over a year and now it’s the awesome product it is today.
Yes getting business advice from peers and senior figures is great but the reason you have the idea in the first place is because you’re the one closest to the problem.
They haven’t thought about it as much as you. Had the sleepless nights. The lightbulb moments in the shower. The arguments inside their heads as to what is right and wrong. You have had all of that any more, I’m certain. But at the end of the day that decision lies with you, and the easiest way to help make that decision is listening to your gut.
I realise now that we can very often overthink things and let our heads get the better of us.
Our fight or flight, knee-jerk reactions are instinctive and often serve us best. If you learn to listen to it, how much faster can you react, build, scale, sell, and start or grow the thing you’ve been thinking about for such a long time?
Action > Thoughts
Thoughts & ideas are simply just that until implemented and, in my experience, thoughts come from my head and action comes from my gut.
I know, that sounds a little hippy but let’s take it back to the fight or flight reaction. If a bear is running at you, you don’t stop to analyse your options, you make a rapid decision and, essentially, rely on your gut to keep you alive.
(A less scary bear…)
What if you took that approach in your business?
Yes there may be occasions were it might serve you badly but when it works out how much more time would you save & progress would you make (at least in the early days) by ‘moving fast and breaking things’? Which, by the way is famously Facebook’s old motto and, hey, look how much they grew!
In short, ship it.
I generally see 3 types of people if I’m going to categorise here:
- Talkers
- Those seeking permission
- Doers
No surprises for which one gets the most stuff done.
I know it takes confidence but you can do it, trust me. Half the time I feel like I’ve no idea what I’m doing, then I realise oh, we’ve actually got an awesome product and a fantastic community – that wouldn’t happen without some common sense at least!
You can do it. Go for it. I believe in you
