This newsletter first appeared on my main LinkedIn channel. Subscribe now!

This is Dean Tolson. He was a professional basketball player. The thing is he didn’t know how to read and write at all.

He got into university with other people taking his exams, and finally into a basketball career. It was when he was 32 years old, he realized that he didn’t have anything in his life. He cried and went back to school, and got his degree. At the age of 57, he got a Masters in Education and now he has written a book.

I find myself wondering many times. Why do I come out with reasons that I can’t do something? I will look at something that I really want to do, and I come up with excuses not to do it. It seems like it’s such an ingrained mentality and mindset not to try something uncertain. Maybe it’s the fear of failing? Maybe it’s the comfort of staying in my comfort zone?

I spend a lot of time thinking about this. I will sit down on a chair alone, look at the ceiling and let my mind wander about this topic. What were my biggest fears? What was my mind telling me?

In my mind, I was so used to walking down a path that was laid out and walked on often. It was properly manicured, with signposts telling me how long more, or how much more effort is needed to reach the end. Workers were piling on gravel and tar on the road as I looked in the distance. Every so often, someone was guiding me down the path and letting me know that many like me have walked down this path.

And it was then I saw everyone else, walking leisurely with me. I realized that I wanted to walk on paths other people have walked on before and I didn’t want to expose myself to the risks of walking down paths that were jungled and few have walked. Looking at Dean Tolson, I realized I had been making excuses for myself on the things that I wanted to do.

I wanted to write a book but avoided it because I thought I didn’t have any good things to talk about. Dean Tolson wrote a book even though he didn’t know how to read and write until he was in his 30s. What’s my excuse? He started way more disadvantageous but ended up further than me because he came up with reasons why he should do it rather than not.

I felt ashamed and inspired at the same time. I have sat down and planned the things I want to do, and I have done some of it with a commitment to just try and fail. Results don’t matter that much compared to the self-discipline to just do it. Even small work can compound. The most important is to just try.