When Are You (Ever, Truly, Positively) Really Ready?

I’ve known a lot of clowns in my life, but none made me think more deeply about taking a chance as the one who could juggle four flaming bowling pins while riding a unicycle.

Watching this acrobatic jester sit atop a six foot unicycle and effortlessly toss the blazing pins through the air only to catch and return them to a radiant orbit with ease was a mesmerizing experience.  The kind of virtuoso performance that made the kid in me applaud for more and the adult in me wonder why I had never learned to juggle.

I’m not the type to ask a magician to reveal his tricks, but in this case I had to know. I get it, I said to the clown, who looked at me with as straight a face as a his big top makeup would allow. I get that with practice one can learn to juggle bowling pins. I get that with practice one could also learn to ride a unicycle. And I get that with much practice one could someday learn to do both at the same time. But when is one ever sure that he’s practiced enough to do all of the above and throw fire into the mix? When can one be so sure that the reward of publicly displaying such deft skill outweighs the pain of humiliation and possible second degree burns? When, I begged of this clown, when are you ready to light the pins on fire?

The clown held my gaze with eyes that were crying on the outside, but must’ve been laughing within. After a moment of reflection, he smiled and answered with the truest piece of advice an artist can ever submit:

You’re never ready. But sometimes, you gotta light ‘em up and see what happens.

In business, life and art there is always more assurance we’d like to have before committing our efforts. More research. More study. More certainty that it’s going to work. So call another meeting if it makes you feel better. Run it past another test audience. Make another draft or run the numbers one more time if you think it’ll quell your pre-launch jitters. Just remember what the clown said about waiting until you think you’re ready.

Now go light your pins on fire…and see what happens.