You don’t need the whole answer: how to start before you feel ready
The short answer:
You can’t plan for every eventuality, because you only find out what works by doing. If you’re thinking about a midlife career change, don’t wait until you’ve got it all figured out. Work out what you can see from where you’re standing, take that step, and let the next one reveal itself.
Ina Garten once put a roast chicken on a big white platter, scattered fresh herbs all over it, and set it out in her shop in the Hamptons. It looked gorgeous. Nobody bought it.
She had assumed that because she was in the Hamptons, people would want fancy food. Veal with morels, that sort of thing. So she took the chickens off the posh platter, popped them into little red and white checked baskets (the sort you’d get chips in) and lined them up on the counter.
They sold in ten minutes.
Her conclusion was that people have elegant taste, but at home they don’t want fancy. They want roast chicken and lobster salad, simple and wholesome. If they want fancy, they’ll go to a restaurant.
Why couldn’t Ina Garten have known what her customers wanted?
I was listening to Ina tell this story, and what struck me is that she couldn’t have known any of it beforehand. She had never owned a food shop. She had never had an employee. She had never even been to the town until a week before she bought the place. She could have sat at her kitchen table for a year drawing up the perfect plan and she would still have put veal with morels on that platter, because the only way to find out what her customers wanted was to put food in front of them and watch what happened.
And this made me think about how many of us are still at the kitchen table, waiting until we’ve got it all worked out.
What does “go as far as you can see” actually mean?
Late in the conversation, Ina shares a line she heard from a friend, attributed to JP Morgan:
“Go as far as you can see, and when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther.”
I love that, because it puts its finger on what stops so many of us. We believe we need the whole answer before we begin. The full route, every obstacle accounted for, every “what if” dealt with. And it simply can’t be done. From the start, you can only see what the start lets you see. Whatever is around the corner stays invisible until you’ve walked to the corner.
There’s only so much you can reasonably predict. The rest you learn by doing.
Every step gives you real information (what worked, what flopped) that wasn’t available to you an hour earlier, however long you thought about it. Ina tried cookies, muffins and coffee in the drawers by the till, and none of them sold. Then she ordered granola and it flew out. She would never have guessed granola. Nobody would.
Trying to work everything out in advance is paralysing, because it’s a test you can’t pass.
You will never feel certain enough, and the likelihood is that you’ll go on feeling not quite ready for a very long time.
How do you start before you feel ready?
Ina’s way of describing it is the pond. You can stand on the bank wondering whether it’s cold, how deep it is, whether there are fish in there, and you will never decide. You have to jump in and splash about. And once you’re in, you may well look across to the far side and spot somewhere far more interesting that you’d never have seen from the bank.
That might change your direction entirely. It might not. Either way, you’d only know from jumping in.
So instead of asking “have I got this all figured out?”, try asking “what can I see from here?” Then do that bit. Make the best decision you can with what’s in front of you, and let the next stretch reveal itself when you get there.
(And no, this doesn’t mean being reckless. Ina made a deal with the woman who sold her the shop to stay on for a month and teach her the ropes. Going as far as you can see is a long way from going with your eyes shut.)
Why does this matter in a midlife career change?
If you’re considering a career pivot in midlife, the pull to plan every last detail is at its strongest. You’ve got more to lose, more people relying on you, and a reputation you’ve spent years building. Of course you want the full map first.
But the map can’t tell you what you’ll only find out by being in it. A conversation with someone already doing the work, a small trial, a weekend spent in the role you’re curious about: these give you real information that no amount of planning will.
Here’s the other thing Ina discovered, and I bet it applies to you too. Years after she bought the shop, writing her memoir made her realise she’d known far more than she thought. She had taught herself to cook, renovated and sold houses, negotiated bank loans and gone to business school at night, all while working at the White House.
She thought she was starting from nothing. She wasn’t. Neither are you.
And she’s clear that it’s never too late to begin.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I feel like I need to be ready before I start?
Most of us believe certainty will make the first step safer. But you can only see what your starting point lets you see, so certainty never arrives. Feeling ready usually follows action, not the other way round.
What does “go as far as you can see, and when you get there, you’ll be able to see farther” mean?
It means you don’t need the whole route mapped out. Make the best decision you can with what’s in front of you, and the next stretch becomes visible once you’ve moved. The line is attributed by Ina to JP Morgan.
Is it too late for a midlife career change?
No. Ina Garten, who built her food business and cookbook career from a standing start, is clear that it’s never too late. What matters is working out what you enjoy and how you could turn it into work, then testing it in small ways.
Is it risky to start a career pivot without a full plan?
It doesn’t have to be. Starting before you feel ready isn’t the same as going in blind. Ina arranged for the seller of her shop to stay on for a month and teach her the business. Take the sensible precautions, then move.
How do I know what the first step is?
Ask “what can I see from here?” and pick the smallest action that would teach you something real, such as a conversation, a trial or a test. The aim is to learn, not to get it perfect.
If you’re sitting on something right now (a career pivot, a business idea, a change you know you need to make) and you’d like help working out that first visible step, why don’t you book a Reset Hour with me, here, and let’s talk through what you can see from where you’re standing.
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