Start Where You Are

We spend a lot of time waiting for the right moment.

The right title. The right level of confidence. The right set of circumstances that finally make the next step feel obvious.

And in the meantime, we stay exactly where we are. Not because we don’t know what to do, but because we’re waiting to feel ready.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, probably because I’m living it in real time.

I have been in my role a little less than a year, and it is familiar in some ways, but new in others. Some parts feel natural. Others I’m figuring out as I go.

In high school, I was the only girl on my swim team who swam the 500 freestyle. I wasn’t the fastest. I was just the only one willing to do it. Everyone else said it was too long. I loved it. I’d get in, find my rhythm, and just keep going.

I’ve always been built more for endurance than speed.

I felt that again years later when I started running. I never enjoyed the short races. I didn’t even feel like I’d hit my stride until mile nine. The longer the race, the more at home I felt. I learned to break it down. One lap. One mile. One marker at a time.

Just keep going.

There hasn’t been a single point in my life where I’ve felt fully ready for all of it at once. Not in athletics, not in parenting, not in my career. If I had waited until I felt ready, I likely wouldn’t have taken the next step.

I’ve learned that readiness doesn’t usually come first. Movement does.

So start exactly where you are. With the conversation that’s already sitting on your chest. With the decision you keep circling.

You don’t need a perfect plan. You just need to take the next step you already know is there.

That’s really enough. When you stop waiting and start moving, things begin to shift. Not all at once, and certainly not perfectly.

That’s where the confidence actually starts to show up. Not before, but because you kept moving.

If you’re feeling stuck, here’s the question I keep coming back to: What is the next move you already know you need to make?

Just start there.

In the 500 freestyle, someone tracks your laps from the pool deck. Twenty lengths. Near the end, they drop a red card into the water to signal the final two. You’re not done yet, but you’re closer than you think.

Sometimes that’s all you need to keep going.