College. A musical instrument. Your career.

Here are 11 ways to avoid improvement (and 11 ways to embrace it). I’ve tested every one, and I guarantee both sets work!

How to Avoid Improvement

1. Think defensively. Make big decisions based on fear.
2. Wait for the fear to go away before you act.
3. Never take action until you’ve considered every possible ramification, like a chess grandmaster thinking 10 moves ahead.
4. Don’t ask questions. Prioritize looking smart over getting smarter.
5. Pass up tempting opportunities because you don’t feel ready.
6. Don’t do your work. If you never start a project, it can stay perfect in your head forever.
7. Do your work, but don’t do it well. If you’d really tried, you could have done better.
8. Do your work well, but don’t share it. If you’re a musician, never perform. If you’re a student, ace your classes but don’t give a presentation at your school’s undergraduate research conference.
9. Don’t initiate. Wait to be invited.
10. Don’t read ahead. Wait to be taught.
11. Focus on what you’re owed instead of what you have to give.

How to Embrace Improvement

1. Ask your fear what it thinks, then say “Thanks for your input, Fear.”
2. Realize the fear never goes away.
3. Thoughtfully consider your imperfect options, then choose the best one.
4. Ask questions ad nauseum.
5. Take action slightly before you feel ready.
6. Kiss perfection goodbye before you start.
7. Embrace imperfection in your work. All great art has flaws.
8. Adopt the mindset If it doesn’t ship, it doesn’t count. Because it doesn’t.
9. Be the inviter. Everyone is waiting for you.
10. Don’t be bound by the average person’s pace. You are not average.
11. Give freely, and you’ll do plenty of getting.

At the symphony, you (perhaps a non-musician) see four trumpet players sitting in the orchestra.

“Hmm,” you think to yourself, “I guess that gal who’s listed as ‘first trumpet’ is the best player in the group. The guy next to her is listed as ‘second trumpet,’ so he must be second-best, and so on.”

Makes sense, right? You’d certainly be forgiven for assuming that this is how things work, but you’d be wrong. If you’ll indulge me, I’ll give you a basic overview.

The following quote is from Seth Godin’s live audio program Leap First (1:55:10). [Some context: Seth’s blog is widely-read, and he’s been running it since 2002. He has never accepted a guest post, preferring to write all content himself.]

I got an email. I get these emails all the time —don’t send me one; I will delete it— from this woman named [redacted], she says, ’May I have a guest post on your blog?’ And I wrote back saying “Which of the other guest posts on my blog did you like? Tell me, and I’m happy to give you one.” And usually, these people don’t write back when I say that, but she said, ‘Oh.’ And then I wrote back to her and said “Why don’t you do what I do, which is write things and put them on your blog?’ And she said, ‘Because I want to get credibility first.’

I work at a university, and we just finished the first week of class.

The first week of class is rough.

Over the summer, things are predictable. There’s plenty to do, but there are few surprises. It’s all long-term projects and big blocks of time.

Reality comes rushing back during the first week of the fall semester. Emergencies abound (both real and imagined). We academic advisors have students beating down our doors, hoping to drop a class, change majors, or figure out what they’re going to do with their lives. There’s scarcely a moment’s peace.

You will probably never feel ready to do anything important.

Think back over your life to the big, pivotal decisions you’ve made:

• taking over the family business
• going off to college
• deciding to get married
• making a big career decision
• moving away from home

Did you feel truly ready for any of these? I bet not.

Stuff I Haven’t Felt Ready For

I’ve got a bit of a reputation in my family for getting panicky when big changes are coming. Here’s a list of things I haven’t felt ready for: