Permission to not know it all granted!
Let’s play out a little scenario. I swing by your office, I do that hand on the door frame thing and just stick my head in while saying: “Hey, we’re going to drop you off for that solo white water rafting experience on Thursday!” And I disappear.
Your eyeballs get a little large like you’re adjusting to something really foreign and you look around your office because not only did you now know about this solo white water rafting experience you have no idea how to white water raft at all. But you must figure it out. You’re going in just 4 short days after all.
What do you do next?
- You probably Google: White water rafting
- Come up with a list of questions that you have for me because while you were super surprised about this news you didn’t ask critical things like where, what do I need, what time?
- Seek help. Either online, from someone you know that has been white water rafting, and if you have any sense about you you’re looking for a Guide so this solo white water rafting experience has someone that knows what they’re doing leading the way.
Now, no, I’m not going to swing by and drop this bombshell on you but I bet you’ve faced your own varieties of this type of news. From a report that’s needed that you’ve never generated before, to a new event that you’re now speaking at, to a customer that has a problem you’ve never attempted to solve before or maybe you’re being asked to be “active” on social media and you have NO idea what that actually means.
As “grown-ups” I think we live under the illusion that it’s entirely on us to “figure it out” and that “we should just know how to do __________.” Let’s just let the air out of the balloon here: that’s just not true.
The best way to do something you’ve never done is to ask someone that HAS done it. Seek a Guide.
Your task for today: Think about something you either want to do, something you’ve procrastinated doing because you don’t know where or how to start, something you have been asked to do but just haven’t done.
And now I want you to go through the three steps:
- Google.
- Ask questions.
- Seek a Guide.
Originally published at medium.com