These words have been immortalized by the Nike slogan. They were also the first ones that came to mind this morning when I read Brad Feld’s post It’s So Hard When Contemplated In Advance And So Easy When You Do It. After a long time, I instantly connected with a post. The feeling he talks about is one I have been witnessing these last couple of weeks on account of a project that was just not going as planned. We had to finally take it into our own hands to get it done. In the beginning it seemed an insurmountable task. I had no idea how we would take it on. Nonetheless, we put our heads down, rolled up our sleeves, and just got to work. Sure it was more complicated than we had originally imagined, but changing mindsets to just getting it done, made it seem a whole lot simpler.

Mindsets
The realization came once again, that it all boils down to your ability to adjust your mindset to a condition where you will not accept anything as impossible, no matter how large the task. You have to tell yourself you will give it your best shot and nothing less. If you are not completely vested into the project or give it a half hearted shot, you are better off not doing it at all. This applies to everything we do in life. If we are unable to adjust our train of thought and align it to what we want to achieve, nothing will work out as planned.

Execution
Even when your mind is made up and you tell yourself, “Ok, I will get this done by a set date and no excuses!”, getting started is always a challenge. As the saying goes, every journey begins with a single step, and so, we have to ensure that the first steps we outline are simple ones, steps that will push us into the momentum of taking the next one. If we sideline this, we will often be left on the fringes, living life knowing we did not live up to our true potential.

Matching Ambition to Effort
All of us have different levels of ambition. Most entrepreneurs have large goals and visions for themselves. When setting these goals, be prepared to put in the effort required to achieve them. If you want to convert your tiny startup into the next Google, you have your work cut out for you! It is important to remember that every decision you take will require you to sacrifice something else. There will always be trade offs. Wanting to achieve a complete work life balance, at the same time wanting to take your company’s revenues from $1m to $100m or $1b will require sacrifice of time you may have wanted to spend elsewhere. It is hence important to get your priorities and goals in place, and decide whether this is what you really want.

Once you decide what you want, and chart a course on how to get there, it is time to….. just do it! No excuses and no complaining! Your ability to execute and get things done will be a true testament of your skill sets. If things do not go as planned, there is no one to blame but yourself. If you are not going to finish strong, it is best to choose something that you will be able to do more easily. The following video has always been a source of motivation and inspiration, it helps me get my head in the right place when I feel I am lagging. I hope it will provide you similar inspiration and motivation.