Start Before You Know

In the 9 years since I started this blog, many people have told me they, too, want to start a blog, but they don’t know their niche.

I get it.

It took me 7 years from the time I first had the idea of this site to actually launch this.

7 years of trying to figure out in my head what my niche would be and how I’d find time to write and what I wanted to say.

Until one day when I finally just sat down to create this site. I wrote something, hit publish, and suddenly my words were available for others to read.

You may wonder:

What was the magic insight? How did I finally figure out my niche so I could start this blog?

Here’s the answer: The magic insight was that if I was waiting to “figure out my niche” before starting to write, I’d never start.

“Figuring out my niche” would occur through the writing — if it happens at all.

Nine years later, approaching 2,000 essays, and I still haven’t figured it out.

Imagine if I had waited.

• I never would have started this blog.
• I wouldn’t have developed the practice of writing and publishing and sharing my ideas publicly.
• Readers who have received value from what I’ve shared would have been deprived that value.

I often must remind myself of this lesson in other contexts where I don’t feel ready to take the leap. I might feel like I need more information, or to research more, or to learn more, before stepping into something.

It’s a crutch.

Is there more to learn? Yes, absolutely.

And … the most important learning happens through action.

As Nevine Michaan, the founder of Katonah Yoga, says ,

Repetition creates revelation.

Whatever it is you think you need to be ready, you won’t find it until you start. That thing will emerge from the doing, not from thinking about it.

Start where you are.