The astute observers among you might recognize that the BMI newsletter, usually diligently sent on the 1st of the month, is, in fact, a few days later this month. Whether you call it fate, chance, or just a creative accident, the tardiness of the newsletter coincides nicely with the topic. Extending far beyond a characteristic found only in business owners or entrepreneurs, a general sense of reluctance and hesitation when starting something new seems to pervade through most. It is unsurprising, and certainly not inherently negative or detrimental, as a sort of fear of the unknown makes it difficult to muster the motivation to face a challenge of undefined difficulty. Clichéd though it might be, a universally recognizable example would be of a student preparing to study for a test. Glancing at the clock (which for this story, will read 6:54pm), he boldly states, 'I'll start studying at 7pm!' Then, as so often is the case, time gets away from him, and he looks back at the clock in dreadful anticipation of having to start, only to realize it is now 7:02pm. Enter the most curious part of the story: rather than start 2 minutes late, our proverbial student - akin to so many others - will set a new start time for himself. 'I missed the 7pm start time,' he might think, 'so instead I'll start studying at 7:15pm!'
It is not as if the act of studying is on a bus schedule, wherein a missed start time requires waiting until the next departure time to begin the journey, and yet the default of many is to act as if it is. There is something to be said for having an affinity for nice, round numbers (starting a task at the start of the hour feels natural, somehow) but that affinity cannot become a curse. Likewise, many processes in business are not stuck to a rigid schedule, and can essentially be started at leisure. Undoubtedly there are more and less optimal times to start different tasks, but the scale is not binary in nature. Starting at a sub-optimal time does not mean that beginning the process will have negative consequences. As the traditional Chinese proverb goes, "the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."
Changing your mindset from always attempting to implement at optimal times - and not starting at all if that timeframe is missed - to a mindset of continual improvement and better to start late than never will add fundamental value to your endeavors, business or otherwise. Improvement needs to be treated as improvement, no matter how small. Focusing on the increases in value, instead of comparing the hypothetical maximum value that could have been added versus what is actually being added, will distinguish your efforts from those around you. Starting late and adding some value puts you that much further ahead than those who do nothing, lamenting the loss of the full value. It is all about perpetual refinement - just as BMI's motto says - not perfect refinement. And should you need assistance with cultivating the discipline to get started, or the accountability to see things through to the end, BMI is there to support you.
- Your BMI family