Talk the talk, walk the walk. It’s the old adage we have all heard time and time again. Well Chris Oliver, a Rails developer at The Able Few in St. Louis, has heard just about enough of the talk, and is ready to only see the walk. He is a firm believer in taking that leap of faith, the don’t look back, all or nothing game time choices. He believes in action.
We have all found ourselves wondering what if, or if maybe I could just pull this off I could really make it. Well in Oliver’s mind, the only way to make it, is to make it happen.
“We don’t want to be naïve going into a new venture. Whether it’s a startup or a relationship, we want to feel like we have a good understanding of what we’re getting into before we make our attempt,” states Oliver.
And who would argue with that logic? Oliver himself.
Not having the confidence in all aspects of your endeavor can be daunting. Oliver believes in knowing yourself and building that confidence by experience. When your Professor belts out his lesson all class long, and you’ve done yourself a favor by paying attention this time, the material seems to make sense. However, there is a reason for the painful homework assignment that came with the lesson, experience. After two hours of beating your head against the wall, and realizing your notes don’t accurately depict what your Professor seemed to so gracefully explain, it all finally makes sense. Now you have experience with this material, and you are better off than before by really understanding what you were working with.
This is what Oliver is preaching:
Get out and do it.
Understand what it is your after by failing a few times, and teaching yourself what you really need to know. Don’t stand by and keep talking yourself up for the task, but jump and get yourself a little wet.
Oliver pushed the the Hell Yeah! or No policy. Don’t go into any project half-heartedly, but go in guns a-blazin’! Take that wild chance you have always wanted to, and don’t sit inside wondering what will be. The idea in your mind will always be just that, and idea. Put the pedal to the metal and let your idea go. If it flops, you learn. You gain the experience of the “homework” to give you a better understanding of what you need to alter, or which direction to steer for the next move.
The time to act isn’t tomorrow. It doesn’t mean anything to tell all of your friends your great idea, but it will mean more than enough when that idea comes to fruition. Pop open a can of the good ol’ Hell Yeah! and show yourself what you are made of. Show yourself that talking the talk wasn’t ever good enough for you, and leave all of those other talkers in the dust.
Get out of the house, and get busy with action!
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