So shut up about it and keep going.
It was 2008 and I was finally headed to Florence, Italy – the birthplace of the Renaissance. Lesley and I had been married only a few months and we were both pretty excited about the thought of eating a lot of good food, drinking some great wine, and being in the presence of art that forever changed the world.
On the flight over, we read up on some of the sights and planned our trip out a little bit. I don’t know…we’re nerds like that and also, this was pre-kids so yeah, we read on the plane. People do that.
We read a lot about the Florence Cathedral (aka the Dome of Florence) and how it took 140 years to build. One hundred and forty years. No one does that anymore.
But then we learned something new
We went to the dome on the first day. While we were staring at it, we overheard a tour guide talking to her tour group near us and casually scooted a little closer to her. Mainly because her accent was awesome, but also because she was dropping some sweet, sweet knowledge.
We learned that when the cathedral was designed, the dome was envisioned to be like none other in existence. No supporting structures or buttresses. In fact, at the time, no one even knew how to build it the way it was designed.
All they had was the faith and confidence that when the time came to build the dome section (which would be about 100 years later), humanity will have figured it out.
Think about that. They had NO idea how the dome was going to be built, but they started anyway…with full confidence that when the time came, someone will be able to build it despite it never having been done before.
I think about this all the time, mainly because it relates to my current work towards building a business from scratch. I don’t have all the answers, and yes, there’s going to be a time when I need those answers, but a temporary lack of answers shouldn’t slow me down in the meantime, right?
No, for real. I’m asking. Right?
Right?
Right?
Gulp. Yeah. I have no f***ing idea, either. But that’s what we sign up for, folks. If I wanted all the answers before I even took a small step forward, I’m not sure I’d ever get anywhere.
Must. Keep. Going.
It’s difficult, because I’m not really wired that way. I kind of like answers…well, at least having answers. Pushing on while trusting that you’ll figure it out before you need to is a bit of a gamble, I’ll admit.
Building something from scratch, by nature, will have more questions than answers. Even more so when you’re trying to build something that doesn’t yet exist. There’s a lot of blind faith involved. A lot of fragile confidence. But that stuff needs to exist to a certain extent, I think. It helps prioritize what to focus on, bridge some gaps, and maintain progress.
The things that make this journey unsettling are the same things that make it exciting, so whatever it is you’re building, let’s all keep going. We’ll figure things out as we go.
#bewhatyoumake
