"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."

This quote comes from Zig Ziglar. A similar version of it (You don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to be great.) comes from Les Brown.

There’s the obvious irony in this quote of already wanting to be great at something before beginning the work to become great at it. But there’s more to this quote than that. Deep down, the feeling that you have to first be great to start often stems from not feeling good enough to start as you are now. It may come down to having a sense of inadequacy and a lack of confidence. Subconsciously, you may be waiting to get to that ideal “great” version of yourself because you feel that is what will give you the confidence you need to begin. Therefore, it’s not so much waiting to be great to start as it is waiting to feel confident enough to start. But sometimes, the first step in achieving your goals is simply feeling adequate, as you are, to take that first step.