You're waiting for the green light. Everyone does it. We sit around thinking that once we have the perfect gear, the ideal budget, or that specific certification, we will finally be "ready" to take the leap. But honestly? Perfection is a lie that keeps you stationary. Most of the most successful projects, businesses, and personal transformations I’ve ever seen started when someone was just enough to be on your way. It’s that precise, messy middle ground where you have just enough information to avoid immediate disaster but not enough to be paralyzed by the complexity of what comes next.
It’s a terrifying spot to be in.
I remember talking to a developer who launched a SaaS product with a landing page that barely worked and a backend held together by digital duct tape. He wasn't "ready" by any industry standard. He was, however, enough to be on his way. He had a functional "Buy" button. That’s it. That was the threshold.
The Myth of Total Readiness
We’ve been conditioned by school systems to believe that 100% is the goal. You study until you know every answer, then you take the test. Real life doesn't work like that. In the real world, the test comes first, and the lesson follows. If you wait until you feel 100% prepared, you’ve likely waited too long. The market has shifted. Your enthusiasm has dimmed. Someone else—someone less qualified but more impulsive—has already taken the spot you were eyeing.
Expertise isn't a destination; it's a byproduct of movement.
Think about the concept of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), popularized by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup. The whole point isn't to release something "bad." It's to release something that is just enough to be on your way so you can actually get data from real humans. Without that data, you’re just guessing in a vacuum. You’re building a solution for a problem that might not exist.
Why your "readiness" is actually procrastination
Let's be real for a second. Often, when we say "I'm not ready," what we actually mean is "I'm scared of being judged." Research in psychology, specifically regarding "Productive Procrastination," shows that we often engage in low-stakes prep work—buying more books, organizing our desks, "researching" for the tenth hour—to avoid the high-stakes vulnerability of actually starting.
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If you have the basic tools, you are likely already at the point where you are enough to be on your way.
The Threshold of "Enough"
So, how do you actually measure this? How do you know if you're truly underprepared or just being a perfectionist? There’s a specific framework used in high-stakes environments like emergency medicine or military operations. It’s called the 70% Rule, often attributed to the U.S. Marine Corps. The idea is that if you have 70% of the information, 70% of the resources, and a 70% confidence level, you move.
Waiting for 90% or more is a death sentence in fast-moving environments.
- The Gear Check: Do you have the absolute bare minimum to perform the primary task? If you're a writer, that's a keyboard. Not a $2,000 ergonomic setup.
- The Knowledge Gap: Do you know the first three steps? You don't need to know step 50. You just need to know how to get out of the driveway.
- The Safety Net: Will a failure at this stage result in total ruin? If the answer is "no," you are enough to be on your way.
The case of the "Accidental" Expert
I recently read a profile on a baker who now runs a multi-million dollar pastry empire. She didn't go to culinary school. She started by selling bread out of her side window because she had a surplus one Sunday. She had a tray, some flour, and a window. She was enough to be on her way. Had she waited to get a commercial lease and a health inspection before selling that first loaf, she probably would have talked herself out of it.
Movement creates its own momentum. Once you are "on your way," the universe (or just the local economy) starts giving you feedback. People tell you the bread is too salty. They ask if you have sourdough. You learn on the fly. This "just-in-time" learning is infinitely more effective than "just-in-case" learning.
Identifying the "On Your Way" Moments in Different Fields
It looks different depending on what you’re trying to do. Honestly, it’s kinda fascinating how the threshold changes.
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In the tech world, being enough to be on your way might mean having a wireframe that proves a concept. In the fitness world, it’s literally just putting on your shoes and walking out the door. You don’t need the heart rate monitor or the macro-tracking app yet. You just need the movement.
- In Business: You have a product that solves one specific pain point for one specific person.
- In Creative Arts: You have a draft that is "ugly" but finished.
- In Travel: You have a ticket and a place to stay for the first night. Everything else can be figured out at the airport.
- In Career Changes: You’ve updated your LinkedIn and sent three "clumsy" messages to people in the industry you want to join.
The Cost of Staying Put
We rarely talk about the "opportunity cost" of waiting. Every day you spend "getting ready" is a day you aren't compounding your skills. If you start today, even poorly, you’ll be twice as good in six months. If you wait six months to start "perfectly," you’re still a beginner on day 181.
There is a certain dignity in being a "messy beginner."
People actually enjoy watching the process. We live in an era where "Build in Public" is a massive trend. Why? Because people relate to the struggle of being enough to be on your way more than they relate to the polished, finished result. Authenticity is found in the gaps of our preparation.
Overcoming the "Expert" Trap
There’s this thing called the Dunning-Kruger effect. Often, the more you know, the more you realize you don't know, which leads to a massive drop in confidence. This is why "experts" often hesitate while "novices" charge ahead. If you're feeling a sudden wave of incompetence, it might actually be a sign that you've learned enough to see the complexity of the task.
That’s usually the exact moment you need to stop studying and start doing. You’ve crossed the line. You are enough to be on your way.
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Actionable Steps to Get Moving
If you’re stuck in the "prep" phase, you need a circuit breaker. You need to force yourself into the "on your way" state before your brain can talk you out of it.
- Set a "Micro-Deadline": Tell yourself you must launch, publish, or commit by 5:00 PM today, regardless of quality.
- The "One-Feature" Rule: Strip your project down to its single most important part. Discard the rest for now.
- Public Accountability: Post on social media or tell a friend: "I am doing X by Friday." Now, you're on your way because the social cost of stopping is higher than the cost of continuing.
- Identify the "Smallest Viable Action": What is the one thing you can do in the next five minutes that makes it impossible to turn back? Buying the domain name? Sending the email? Do that.
Practical Reality Check
Let’s be clear: this isn't an excuse for recklessness. If you’re a heart surgeon, "enough to be on your way" involves a lot more than if you’re a podcaster. Context matters. But for 90% of the things we lose sleep over—starting a side hustle, writing a book, changing a habit—the bar for "enough" is significantly lower than we think.
You don't need a map of the whole forest. You just need a flashlight that reaches the next ten feet.
Most people spend their lives waiting for the flashlight that illuminates the whole trail. Those flashlights don't exist. The light only moves forward as you do. When you take a step, the beam hits the next patch of grass. Take another, and you see the next tree.
Moving Toward the Goal
Stop looking for more tutorials. Stop reading more "how-to" guides (including this one, once you finish the next paragraph). The "enough" you’re looking for is already in your hands. It’s the slightly-above-average skill you have, the $50 in your pocket, or the half-baked idea in your notebook.
True growth happens in the transition from "thinking about it" to "dealing with it." You are currently enough to be on your way. The only thing left is the actual "being."
Next Steps for Implementation:
- Define your "Minimum Viable Launch": Write down the three things your project absolutely needs to function. Delete everything else from your to-do list for the next week.
- Embrace the "B-Minus" Work: Purposefully aim to complete your next task at an 80% quality level. Notice how much faster you finish and how the world doesn't end.
- Audit your "Input vs. Output": For every hour you spend consuming information about your goal, spend two hours actually producing something related to it. If you can't produce yet, you've over-consumed.
- The "Burn the Ships" Maneuver: Make a small, non-refundable investment in your goal—a registration fee, a piece of software, or a consultation—to signify that the "getting ready" phase is officially over.