All of the how is already out there

It’s okay if you don’t know how to create something.

As long as you have an idea in your head what the sound and look and feel should be, then that vision will be enough to propel you forward.

In a world where anybody can learn how to anything for nothing, what always trumps how. Those who trust the process and trust themselves to figure out the ways and means, set themselves up for success.

Here’s an embarrassing example.

My sense of direction has always been awful. My ability to know my location and perform wayfinding is about as skilled as a middle school musical. Just like my father, my spatial awareness and intelligence are low.

Reading a map hurts my brain, global positioning systems are useless to me, and I get lost almost every time I drive or walk to someplace new.

Ultimately, I’ve long since accepted that I am directionally inferior. Now, this isn’t just me being hard on myself. I’ve taken the official spatial ability test to measure my navigational ability. I’m not clinically diagnosed with what psychologists call developmental topographic disorientation, but one thing’s for sure.

You don’t want to ask me for directions. I’m pitiful at judging distances.

And it’s ironic, because due to wearing a nametag all the time, people on the street are always coming up to me to ask for directions. I don’t know what it is about this little sticker, but strangers seem to mistake interpersonal approachability for navigational ability.

It’s totally the halo effect. Because of my friendliness and disclosure of basic personal information, people form a positive impression of my directional capabilities.

Well, this guy looks friendly and unlikely to mug me, he probably knows how to get downtown. Let’s ask him. Scott, can you tell my family which subways goes to the national torture museum?

Anyway, enough bragging about my directionally inferior brain. The point here is, despite my wayfinding shortages, it’s actually not that important to me to know where I am. Never has been.

I mean, I’m still here. I haven’t been murdered, kidnapped or robbed yet. Sure, it’s nice to eventually figure out how to get where I’m going. But my tolerance for ambiguity is high. My ability to figure things out is rock solid.

Even if I don’t know how to do something, whether it’s baking gluten free cake pops, installing an illegal dryer vent, starting a new job, or launching a software application, I usually have an idea in my head what the sound and look and feel of the final product should be.

And in my experience, that vision tends to be enough to create the momentum I need. Think about it. All of the how is already out there. Whatever task I seek to accomplish, somebody somewhere has already done all the heavy lifting for me.

Youtube, for example, has a tutorial about any task imaginable. Users upload more than four billion videos each month. Whatever you need to learn how to do, it’s there. For god’s sake, I just discovered a three minute clip titled, how kill yourself without any pain, and it’s been viewed seven hundred thousand times.

Clearly how to do things is no longer the barrier to execution. What matters more is the what. The true nature or identity of something. The sum of its characteristics. If we can ground ourselves in that piece of the puzzle, it’s amazing to see what kinds of progress we can make.

What personality imperfections do you refuse to let stand in your way of success?