The Genius Guide to Starting Before You’re Ready

Quick check-in.

We're eight weeks into this thing. How’s it feeling?

Do you like the format? Topics? Got a favorite edition?

Hit reply and let me know — I read every one.

Someone less qualified than you is living your dream life.

Why?

Because they stopped waiting and you haven’t.

You’re more ready than you think.

You’re just waiting for someone to say so.

A co-founder to appear out of nowhere.

An investor to believe in the idea you won’t even back yourself.

A sign. A nod. A green light.

It starts early.

Raise your hand. Ask for a hall pass. Wait to be picked.

School teaches you to wait for permission. Life never un-teaches it.

Fast forward...

You hesitate to launch because no one invited you. You sit on the idea, waiting for someone else to validate it. You stay quiet in meetings because your title doesn’t feel big enough to speak.

But here’s the thing: No one is coming to tell you it’s time. No one is coming to say you can.

The people doing bold things?

They stopped asking.

You can too…

Why You’re Still Waiting

1️⃣ You were trained to ask first

From the start, we were rewarded for following directions, not questioning them.

You learned approval comes before action. In real life, it’s the other way around.

2️⃣ You assume someone else knows better

But the people doing what you wish you could do?

They don’t know more. They just started anyway.

3️⃣ You think confidence comes first

It doesn’t. Confidence shows up after you start moving.

4️⃣ You mistake fear for a stop sign

Fear isn’t a no. It’s proof that something matters.

The people who move forward feel it too. They just go anyway.

5️⃣ You overestimate failure and underestimate regret

Most failures are recoverable.

Regret sticks.

🧠 Genius Moves: How to Start Without Permission

🧠 Act before you feel ready

Readiness is a myth. You get ready by going.

🧠 Lower the bar

You don’t have to launch a company.

You can send the email. Make the call. Share the idea.

Small moves stack up.

🧠 Do the uncomfortable thing

If it feels safe, it’s probably not the thing that will change your life.

🧠 Trust your instinct

You don’t need a green light from the system.

You already have it from you.

Proof: The Actor Who Refused to Wait

In the early seventies, a broke actor was sleeping in a bus station.

Agents passed. Directors laughed. He was out of money.

He wrote a script in three days. Studios wanted it but not him.

They told him to sell it and step aside.

He refused.

That actor? Sylvester Stallone.

The script? Rocky.

He bet on himself when no one else would.

That bet turned into a $200 million franchise.

No one gave him permission.

He took it.

🧭 Framework: C.A.L.L. It Yourself

C = Catch the Delay

Where are you still stalling? Awareness breaks the pattern.

A = Assume the Role

Lead like you already are who you’re waiting to become.

L = Launch a Scrappy Start

Start small. Make it real. Clarity comes in motion.

L = Let Results Speak

When you move, your work starts to validate itself. Confidence compounds.

🚀 Genius Takeaways

• No one is coming to choose you

• Permission is mostly an illusion

• Action creates clarity

• Fear doesn’t mean stop. It means go

Your move…

No one is coming to save you. But you? You’ve always had what it takes.

You don’t have to be fearless. You just have to move without waiting for someone to say it’s okay.

If this hit a nerve, hit reply. Or forward it to someone who’s quietly holding back on something that matters.

You already know what to do. Now it’s just about doing it.

Up and to the right,
Alex (or @heyalexfriedman)

P.S. If you are looking for part-time roles while you build your thing, subscribe to our sister newsletter FounderGigs!