Everyone has a but, it’s just a matter of how big. The bigger the but, the more likely it’s blocking, the trip, the business, the promotion, the life you keep saying you'll get to. The but is omnipresent, and it's a dream killer. If your "instinct" is to add a big but after things you want to accomplish, this is the but that's holding you back.
Here's the trick: a but feels like responsible, grounded thinking. You're not being impulsive. You're being realistic. But what it's really doing is disguising inaction as wisdom.
My wife was eight months pregnant, I just started my second company, then one day I was stuck in traffic on a Saturday morning, I decided we should move from the big city. Thirty days later we were in a U-Haul. We raised our kids in Fort Wayne and was able to peacefully grow the company. It changed my life.
The buts: I can't move, my wife is pregnant, I just started a business, where will we even live…
I was making $100k selling software when friends pitched me an idea to start a dot com company over lunch. Thirty days later I quit my "job" and started my first company, which led to my second, which was sold to a public German company. It changed my life.
The buts: I can't quit, it's too risky, I don't know how to run a company…
While running a 40-person company as CEO, the kids were 7 and 4, over dinner we admitted we'd regret never traveling full time. 90 days later we'd sold our house, most belongings, bought an RV, and traveled the country for a year, while home schooling the kids. One of the best years of our lives. It changed my life.
The buts: I have small kids, can I run my company from the road?, I can't drive a 40-foot bus…
You want to go to Europe. You can't afford it today. But Europe will still be there in 18 months. Set aside $150 a month and you're on a plane. The money isn't the problem. The plan is.
The but isn't a wall. It's a cruel waiting room you choose to sit in.
Who's in control, you or your but? Buts can be bossy.
Most started with less than you think. An MVP is a few hundred dollars and some nights and weekends.
Twenty minutes a day. You need a decision and a pair of shoes, not a gym membership.
The average U.S. grad student is 33. A degree can take two years. You've got that.
Every great writer was once a bad writer who kept going. The first draft is supposed to be terrible.
It's never the right time. The right time is a myth your but invented.
Start with $100 a month. Invested over 40 years, it grows to roughly $650,000.
YouTube, Coursera, a library card, a search. The beginning is one click away.
Nobody did. That's how you get to know people. The connection comes after the start.
The sneakiest but of all. Happiness isn't a destination; it's a practice you start now.
It's order of operations. Pay yourself $25 a week before the money disappears.
Write down "I want X, but Y." Ask: is Y a real wall, or an unstarted step? Most buts are money (a savings plan), time (a prioritization problem), or fear (a confidence problem). You can't solve a vague but. You can solve a specific one.
Overwhelm is the but's weapon. Want Europe? Open a savings account today, put in $5, name it "Europe." Tomorrow, set a $50/month transfer. Now it's a timeline, not a wish. You can't be overwhelmed by a five-minute step.
"Someday" is the but's natural habitat. Decide: by [date], I'll have taken [first step]. Write it down, tell someone, put it on the calendar. The plan doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to exist.
Ready isn't a feeling you wait for. It's a state you create by starting.
