You Can’t Build What You Don’t Start

// The Dream Phase

At the weekend, I went to the beach with Mark Masters to film a video that we dreamed up after a few beers on New Years Eve. I distinctly remember the conversation and how it went from something small to a fully fledged video idea in around 5 minutes and we were both so enthusiastic that we delved deeper into how it would be filmed and what it would eventually look like.

But until the weekend, it's as far as it went. We then discussed it a few times, we touched on it but the idea never really felt better than it did when we initially had that idea.

There’s a strange comfort that comes with having a good idea. At the start, it feels like you’ve unlocked something important - a project, a business, a new way of doing something - and for a little while, that feeling is enough. As Mark and I did on New Years Ever, you imagine the finished product, the praise, the sense of accomplishment when it all comes together.

You sit with it, refining it quietly in your head, building it up until it feels almost untouchable.

It’s exciting. It’s safe. And because it’s safe, it’s easy to stay there for a long time.

The problem is, the longer you sit in that dream phase, the more you start believing that starting needs to feel perfect. That you need to wait until you’re completely ready. That you need more time to prepare, to research, to plan. You convince yourself that the delay is strategic, but more often than not, it’s just fear wearing a clever disguise. In our case - it was just genuine apathy and procrastination but there have been plenty of times when I just haven't done something out of fear.

There are ideas I thought about for months, even years, without ever giving them a proper shot.

Domain names I bought that never became websites. Businesses I mapped out in notebooks but never shared with anyone. Video projects that lived in my mind without ever making it to a camera.

I convinced myself I was being careful, but really, I was stuck. I was building castles in the air - perfect in theory and completely absent in practice.

// Why we stay stuck.

The reality is, ideas are everywhere.

Everyone has them.

The difference isn’t in having a good idea - the difference is in doing something about it. And doing something about it rarely looks like the polished version you imagined when you first had the idea.

It’s messy. It’s awkward. It’s full of mistakes. But that’s where the real work happens.

There’s a danger in waiting too long to start - when you overthink, when you keep telling yourself you’ll move when you’re “ready,” you lose momentum.

The idea starts to lose its edge. You second-guess yourself. You see other people launching things you thought of months ago, and you start to wonder if your chance has passed. The excitement fades and is replaced with a quiet, nagging feeling that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all. Not because it wasn’t good - but because you didn’t act.

And let’s be honest - most of the time, it’s not the work that’s overwhelming. It’s the emotional weight of starting. That awkward feeling of being new at something. That vulnerability of showing up and admitting you’re at the beginning, not the end.

We’re all so conditioned to want to be seen as “good” straight away that we forget - everyone who is good now was once average. Everyone who looks effortless now once looked ridiculous. I know I do.

// The Myth of the 'Perfect Time'

We hold onto the myth that there will be a perfect time to start.

A time when we’ll feel completely confident, when the conditions will be just right. But that time never really comes. Life is always busy, the conditions are always a little bit wrong, and you’re never going to feel 100% ready.

The people who succeed aren’t the ones who waited for the stars to align - they’re the ones who made a move anyway.

Back when I was first thinking about starting SalesChange and then 'Let Them Create', I spent months fine-tuning the idea in my head. I had the branding sorted, the messaging half-drafted, the website structure mapped out - all before I ever did anything that actually mattered. I told myself I was being smart, getting all my ducks in a row. But looking back, all I was doing was delaying the one thing that would have made a difference - actually speaking to potential customers.

It’s easy to hide behind "getting ready." It feels productive without any of the risk. But hiding keeps you stuck.

Done is better than dreamed because doing gives you something to build on. Dreaming feels good, but it doesn’t teach you anything. Doing - even badly at first - gives you feedback and it gives you momentum.

Once you have momentum, you have a chance to adjust and grow and get better and more importantly, you can fix an imperfect version.

You can’t fix an idea that only ever lived in your head.

// Done beats Dreamed

If you’re sitting on something right now - a project you keep meaning to start, a business idea you keep sketching out, a piece of creative work you keep telling yourself you’ll do “one day” - this is your reminder.

You don’t need another few weeks to plan. You don’t need another podcast or another book to make you ready. You just need to start. When Mark and I ventured out on Saturday afternoon, it could have been so easy to call if off or wait for the sun to be shining a little more, or even worse, to not actually do it because of pure procrastination.

Despite what I'm about to say next, your first idea won’t be perfect. It won’t be polished. You’ll probably look back in six months and cringe a little. I mean, the idea we had on New Years Eve was amazing and I think, after reviewing some of the footage, we've actually captured what I expected but most of the time, you won't.

When you do put yourself out there and actually do something you’ll also be grateful you had the courage to move when you didn’t feel ready.

You’ll have something to improve, something to show for the time, something that makes you better for the next thing you try.

Right now, I’m living this lesson again. In my own projects, in my running training, in building Let Them Create - I can feel the difference between dreaming and doing. And it’s not some magical, inspirational thing. Most days, it’s just about showing up, knowing it won’t be perfect, but knowing it still matters.

The ideas that change your life aren’t the ones you think about forever.

They’re the ones you act on.

Done is better than dreamed.

Always has been. Always will be.