Have you been thinking of starting a business, or maybe learning to do things around the house in order to save money? If you’re not sure you’re qualified to do things like that, or don’t know what you would need to do, you’re definitely not alone.

When I started my first blog, I had zero idea of how to do it. The same thing was true when I decided to tile my first floor, give our poor cat subcutaneous fluids, or create a banana cake recipe.

But I didn’t let my lack of knowledge stop me.

A little research helps

In all of those cases, I started with a little research. I followed directions online, observed others who had done the same thing, got instruction from an expert (in the case of the fluids), and experimented. I didn’t wait until I felt confident. As I told my husband, if I waited until I was sure I knew how to do something, I’d never get anything new done.

What I’m trying to say here is that preparation is important, but only to a certain extent.

In reality, extensive preparation is only truly important for things that can be life- or career-threatening if you don’t adequately prepare. For everything else, some preparation and knowledge is just fine.

Getting started is the important part

If things don’t go as planned or you find out that you need to know more before you can go further, that’s when you adjust or learn as you go.

Yes, you might screw up. But so what. You can fix that. And you might also be wildly successful, make a ton of money, discover a new hobby, and/or save a ton of money. If you wait until you’re completely ready to get started though, you may never know. So take a few (relatively minor) risks, and start before you’re ready.