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One of my first jobs out of college was Production Coordinator for the Ethnic Folk Arts Festival put on by a little non profit group in NY called the Ethnic Folk Arts Center.

I heard about the job opening from a friend and decided I had to have it even though I’d never produced a thing in my life.  It sounded like fun – they worked out of a funky loft in Tribecca, knew a lot about music and wrangled musicians and dancers  from all over the world into a Polish beer garden in Queens once a year for a big fat party.

So I put together a resume that listed such achievements as: Produced plays in college (demanded my friends show up to watch my boyfriend act); Started several organizations in high school (had a bake sale once and started a sledding team that had no competition and only one meeting where we spent most of our time figuring out how to score some beer); worked at my college radio station (hung around while my friend DJed).  Then I got all dressed up in sensible clothes borrowed from my mother that didn’t fit and marched off to my interview.  An hour later me and my big mouth had a new job.

That night I lay awake in wide-eyed horror.  My god, what have I done?  I am a monster!  These sweet, pure-hearted, sandal-wearing people who bring their dogs to work just handed me a coffee can full of money that they spent an entire year collecting for this festival and I’m the lying fathead who’s going to blow it.

I felt sick.  I thought about turning myself in but instead wound up working harder for them than I ever had in my life.  And I pulled if off in flying colors if I do say so myself.  I got all my out of work friends to hand out flyers and take tickets, herded the unruly polka dancers into their places on time, got the latka vendors set up and oversaw the bagpipe parade that went off without a hitch.

I’m not saying you should lie, but I kind of am.

Because when we say we’re unqualified for something, we’re usally saying we’re too scared to try it.

Here’s the thing:
1.) We know waaaaay more than we give ourselves credit for
2.) We are drawn to things we’re naturally good at
3.) There’s no better teacher than necessity

In hindsight, I realized that I was more qualified than I thought.  I’m an older sister which means I’m naturally bossy, I like working hard and I can talk to anyone, even a 76 year old Russian man who speaks no English and is in a bad mood because he can’t find his tights.

I went on to do many more things that I was “unqualified” for, but I also wasted plenty of time pretending I wasn’t ready or didn’t know enough or wasn’t sure about some other things I really wanted to do.  And I will tell you, jumping in is way more fun than sitting around “getting ready”.

One time I spent an entire month preparing my office to write a book.  I got just the right chair, put the desk in the perfect place by the window, organized all the materials I needed and then re-organized them, three times, cleaned the place until it almost wore away…and then proceeded to write the entire book at my kitchen table.

What are you putting off doing until you’re ready?
What could you start doing right now that would make you skip down the street with glee?
What are you pretending you can’t do?

Whether it’s a book you’re not ready to write or a trip you want to take after you lose 10 pounds or a business you want to start as soon as you save enough money….start.  Now.  You could get run over by the ice cream man tomorrow.

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