Creative Wayfinding For Ambitious Optimists.

Start Before You Know Where You’re Going

July, 2, 2020

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Too often we don’t allow ourselves to start because we don’t know where we’re going.

Without a defined destination and strategy for how our efforts will help move us toward it, we worry that any effort we do exert might be wasted.

“Until I have clarity,” we think, “it’s better to sit and do nothing than move in a direction that might take me further from where I want to go.”

So we sit and wait, and agonize over our lack of clarity as much as our lack of action. The weeks, months, and even years pass by, marked by small flashes of insight and purpose that always seem to fade back into the ennui and uncertainty that has come to define our lives.

When you’re feeling stuck, when your feeling directionless, when you’re feeling like you have something to offer, but you don’t know what, it’s best to start, even when you haven’t the vaguest idea of where you’re going.

Sure, you might take yourself further away from what turns out to be your ultimate target. But isn’t a slight detour on the way to finding your path better than never finding it at all?

The fastest route to clarity is rarely the shortest or most direct. You often need to start down many paths before finding the one you’re supposed to be on.

By the time you find it, however, you’ll have built up the skills, habits, and perspective required to make meaningful progress towards your goal.

Start creating. Start experimenting. Start moving.

And watch your destination shift into focus.


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Hi, I'm Jeremy, I'm glad you're here.

No matter what you create, I'm guessing you spend a good amount of time feeling lost, hopeless, and unsure about how to get from where you are to where you want to be.

So do I. And so does everyone doing creative work.

This is the Creative Wilderness.

Every week, I publish a new article in my Creative Wayfinding newsletter about how we as creators and marketers can navigate it with more clarity and confidence.

If you're building something that matters, but aren't quite sure how to take the next step forward, I'd be honoured to have you join us.