The price of waiting for "ready"

I've been waiting to write this email until I found the perfect words.

Then I realized the irony.

That's exactly the problem I want to talk about.

The Expensive Habit of Waiting

Last week, I got a DM that stopped me cold:

"Richard, I've been following you since you had 50k. I was going to start my page 'next month' back then. You're at 1M now. I'm still at zero."

This person watched me gain 950,000 followers while they waited for ready.

The math is brutal:

• Time passed: 14 months

• My growth: 950k followers, €100k+ earned

• Their growth: Still planning

The price of waiting? Everything they could have built.

The Ready Trap

Here's what "waiting for ready" actually looks like:

Monday: "I need better equipment first"

Tuesday: "Let me watch more tutorials"

Wednesday: "My content isn't good enough yet"

Thursday: "I should plan more"

Friday: "Maybe next week"

Weekend: Scroll through success stories of people who started

Sound familiar?

I did this dance for 10 months. Built elaborate content calendars I never used. Bought courses I never finished. Made lists of "someday" goals.

The truth nobody tells you:

Ready is a lie we tell ourselves to avoid the discomfort of being bad at something new.

The Compound Cost of Perfection

Every day you wait compounds against you:

Day 1 of waiting: No big deal

Day 30: A month of missed growth

Day 90: Others are gaining momentum

Day 365: A completely different life you didn't live

But here's what's worse:

It's not just the opportunities you miss.

It's the skills you don't develop.

The confidence you don't build.

The proof you don't create for yourself.

When I posted my first Elevenstoic content, it was terrible. 37 views. 2 likes (probably my mom).

But that terrible post taught me more than 10 months of planning.

The Starting Ugly Framework

Here's exactly how to break the "ready" trap:

Step 1: Choose your smallest possible action

• Not "launch a brand"

• But "create one post"

Step 2: Set a stupid-early deadline

• Not "someday"

• But "before lunch today"

Step 3: Ship it scared

• Post with typos

• Publish with imperfect edits

• Share before you're proud

Step 4: Learn from real feedback

• Not imaginary problems

• But actual data

Step 5: Make the next one 1% better

• Not perfect

• Just slightly less terrible

This framework built my entire business.

What Starting Messy Really Looks Like

October 2023: Posted my first Elevenstoic content (embarrassing)

November: Found my voice (still rough)

December: First viral moment (2M views)

January: Crossed 100k (momentum building)

Today: 1M+ followers, €15k/month

None of this happens if I wait for ready.

Your Permission Slip

Consider this your official permission to:

• Start before you know what you're doing

• Post content you'll cringe at later

• Build in public while figuring it out

• Be bad at something new

• Choose growth over comfort

The gap between you and the life you want isn't skill. It's not talent. It's not timing.

It's the willingness to start messy.

This week's challenge:

Post something. Anything. Don't wait for Monday. Don't wait for the perfect idea. Don't wait for ready.

Just create something and ship it.

Then email me. Tell me you did it. I read every single one.

The price of waiting is the life you're not living.

Start messy. Start now.

Richard Founder, Elevenstoic

P.S. If you've been thinking about building your own brand but waiting for the "right time," September's slipping away. I put everything I learned into Cinematic Studio for the people ready to stop waiting. But honestly? Even without it, just start. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.