“There is a very old saying: ‘When the pupil is ready, the master will appear.’

-Anthony Hopkins, The Mask of Zorro

I’m currently in the inchoate stage of starting a business. After several attempts in the past couple of years to get back to employment and thus ween myself off disability payments (attempts which have often ended with me falling on my face and embarrassing myself), I discussed the idea of becoming a freelance writer with my vocational counselor. She loved the idea and set me up with a self-employment consultant who has been working with me for several weeks now to construct a feasibility study and a business plan.

A business. I am going to be forming a business. That very sentence boggles my mind. As long as I could remember, I have never thought of myself as a man for business – indeed, I have often repudiated the idea to be as absurd as my becoming a basketball player, an astronaut, or a ninja. I had little desire for it and could find within myself even less ability or natural talent. I am a man of letters, not a merchant. The very ideas of haggling, advertising, marketing, or having employees underneath me made me mildly nauseous. And surely tax season for a business could make a bride fret on her wedding night.

But here I am, somewhat inadvertently, starting a business. But I don’t know the first thing about running an operation, even a sole proprietorship like the one I’m going to form. At first, I was anxious and full of doubt, seriously considering calling off the whole project and steeling myself to the prospect of trying to work yet another nine-to-five job. But a neighbor of mine counseled me to stay the course, saying “You fail at 100% of those things you never try.” So, I’ve decided to stick with it, and my anxieties be damned.

But nonetheless, as I said, I know nothing of forming or running such an enterprise, even one as simple and miniscule as mine. However, many weeks of business coaching are part of the plan, to say nothing of the world’s knowledge of this subject (or any other) being at my fingertips. I will be taught these things by someone with know-how. All that’s required of me is the nerve to commit and work. If someone is going to teach you how to swim, you first must take a plunge.

So many of us hold ourselves back because of our ignorance of various skills, our lack of understanding of various disciplines. We can then easily despair of any future accomplishment. This is folly; we may as well despair of the cold when a coat and scarf are hanging from a hook next to the front door. Teachers and resources for learning abound like dandelions in summer. We may not become PhDs (though some can), but we can take courses on YouTube, on Khan Academy, or any number of sites. We needn’t pretend to be experts; we need only strive to expand our knowledge, to grow beyond our present state. I know nothing of carpentry, but if I need to drive a nail through some wood I have several friends who can instruct me. Do I want to learn more about the history of Europe leading up to and including the First World War? There are plenteous documentaries I can find on YouTube, on Amazon, or elsewhere on the internet. Am I concerned about my health and potential illness? I can find out many things from my best friend, a doctor, who can also refer me to literature on the subject. Am I perplexed about moral and religious issues? I have a spiritual director who can explicate theology and hear my confession. I have vast gaps in my understanding but being mentored by the knowledgeable is the death of incompetence. I need not worry nor doubt, but only have courage and patience. I knew nothing about poetry until an English teacher introduced me to it and I read books about it, both poetry itself and how to write it. Now I have published a book of verse.

Do you doubt yourself for not knowing about or being capable of something? Remember that you would never have learned to walk or talk without imitating your parents and being coached by them. These may be the most natural actions for human beings, but we can only express this nature by having the potential drawn out of us by instruction. Very little of knowledge is intuitive, and very little ability comes from just having a knack for it. No one is born with understanding, and we shouldn’t wait around for it to fall out of the sky upon us. Seize the initiative, search for a teacher, and watch your skills blossom as you evolve into a better, more well-rounded human being.

Happy learning!