Why Most People Never Start

This is where I learned that nothing in life responds to intention, only action.

I grew up in Utah, and starting when I was eight years old, I worked on a dairy farm. I didn’t live on the farm, but mornings and evenings, that’s where I was. It became part of my life long before I understood how much it was shaping me.

One winter morning stands out clearly in my mind. It was 4:30am. The temperature was below zero. The kind of cold that bites you to the very core and makes you wish you were anywhere but outside.

Inside the milk barn, it was warm. Steam rose from the cows and hung in the air. It was comfortable and, in that barn, I was safe from the bitter cold.

The cows outside were not so lucky and they were demanding to be fed.  Mooing loudly waking up everyone around.

I remember standing there for a moment, knowing exactly what was waiting for me beyond the barn door. I opened it and stepped into the darkness. The cold hit instantly. It wasn’t gradual, I froze a little immediately.

I rushed to the first corral, moving as fast as I could, trying to finish before the cold settled too deeply into my body. I fed the cows quickly and turned back toward the barn, walking fast, trying to run but not being able to because my feet hurt from being so cold.

By the time I got back inside, my feet were frozen. Completely beyond being comfortable.

I went over to the sink, turned on the hot water, and let it run over my rubber boots. Slowly, painfully, my toes began to warm again.

Then I did what I had to do.

I went back out.

Corral by corral, I repeated the process. Out into the cold. Back into the warmth. Out again. Back again.

Looking back, I realize something important.

I never stood in the barn waiting to feel ready. (At least not for very long.)

If I had waited until I felt comfortable, I would have stayed inside all morning.

The cows didn’t care about my comfort. They just wanted me to act and get them fed.

Business works the same way.

Over the years, I’ve met countless people with good ideas. Some of them had ideas better than businesses that exist today. But they never started. They told themselves they needed more time. More knowledge. More confidence.

What they were really waiting for was to be sure they had a winner, the perfect timing, or maybe just the feeling of being 100% certain they were doing the right thing.  Unfortunately for them, certainty doesn’t come before action. It comes after.

Confidence isn’t something you find before you begin. It’s something you build by beginning.

Every entrepreneur you admire started before they felt ready. Before they had guarantees. Before they knew how it would turn out.

They started while it was still uncomfortable.

Most people never fail because they never start, and they never start because they are trying to avoid discomfort.

Having discomfort isn’t the enemy. It’s the path.  Every success I have had come with lots of discomfort.

Standing in that warm barn would have been easier. However, the cows outside would not have been fed. Nothing would have moved forward.

The life you want works the same way.  If you only have intentions, or ideas but no action, life will not respond by giving you success.  You have to get out and when it is uncomfortable act upon your intentions, your ideas and even when you would rather stay in where it is warm you are getting out and going at it.

Nothing will happen until you step out into the cold and feed the cows.