The best advice I ever received was on a dirt track in New Jersey. As an avid racing enthusiast, I was attending a motocross school. We were practicing the “hole shot,” the start of the race where anywhere from 4 to 40 riders start from a standstill and, in a full throttle sprint, try to be first one through a bottleneck turn.
Being more greenhorn than expert, I asked the coach which gear I should be in when I reached the apex of the turn. His matter-of-fact answer was, “The right one.” It took me a moment to figure out he wasn’t blowing me off or being a smartass. His answer was that he didn’t have the answer. He was telling me that I had the answer. I just had to trust it.
The secret of the universe is that no one knows shit. No one has the right answer, because no one has your answer. We want to know. We seek answers in books and seminars. We look for guidance from teachers, heroes, gurus, and even the internet. We’ve gotten so used to looking around that we’ve stopped looking inside.
Success is measured in hindsight. Any advice from those farther down the road comes in too neat and easy a package. Their success came from their own trials, failings, and messy blunders—and their ability to keep going. Everyone is making it up as they go; some just fail more successfully.
You can model yourself after others and even emulate the 10 Things Millionaires Do Before Breakfast, but ultimately what will work for you is practicing, taking chances, and learning to trust your own answer.
No one knows which gear to be in. I suggest trying them all.
