Musings

So I was scrolling through some old quotes the other day (yes, I’m that person who gets lost in quote rabbit holes), and this gem from Henry Ford smacked me right in the face: “You can’t build a reputation on what you are GOING to do.”

Oof. Right in the feelings, Henry.

The “Someday” Syndrome Is Real

You know what’s wild? I bet every single one of us has that friend who’s been “about to start” their business for like three years now. They’ve got the perfect logo designed, they’ve researched their target market to death, and they can tell you exactly how they’re going to dominate their industry… someday.

But here’s the thing – nobody’s buying what you’re not selling yet.

I used to be the King of grand announcements. “I’m going to write a long romance series!” “I’m starting a podcast!” “I’m learning Japanese!” My poor friends probably rolled their eyes every time I declared my next big adventure. And honestly? They had every right to. Because most of those things? Yeah, they never happened.

Why We Love the Planning Phase (A Little Too Much)

There’s something intoxicating about the planning stage. It feels productive, doesn’t it? You’re making lists, doing research, maybe even buying supplies. Your brain tricks you into thinking you’re already succeeding because you’re thinking about succeeding.

But planning without action is just elaborate procrastination with better stationery.

I learned this the hard way when I spent six months “preparing” to start running. I bought the shoes, downloaded apps, mapped out routes, read articles about proper form. Want to know how many times I actually ran during those six months? Zero. Zilch. Nada.

The Reputation Reality Check

Here’s what Henry Ford understood way back in the early 1900s: your reputation isn’t built on your intentions, your plans, or your potential. It’s built on your deliverables. People remember what you actually did, not what you said you were going to do.

Think about the people you respect most. Are they the ones who always have big plans, or are they the ones who quietly get stuff done? Yeah, exactly.

Small Actions, Big Impact

The beautiful thing about Ford’s philosophy is that you don’t need to do something earth-shattering to start building your reputation. You just need to start doing something.

Want to be known as a helpful person? Start helping people in small ways – hold doors, offer genuine compliments, listen when someone needs to vent.

Want to build a reputation as a reliable professional? Start by actually meeting your deadlines instead of just promising you will.

Want to be seen as creative? Stop talking about your art and start making it, even if it’s terrible at first.

The Fear Factor

Let’s be real for a second – sometimes we stay in the planning phase because it’s safe there. You can’t fail at something you haven’t started yet, right? But you also can’t succeed.

I get it. Putting yourself out there feels vulnerable. What if people don’t like what you create? What if you’re not as good as you thought? What if you embarrass yourself?

Just Start Where You Are

You don’t need perfect conditions to begin. You don’t need the ideal setup, unlimited time, or complete confidence. You just need to start with what you have, where you are, right now.

I finally started that blog I’d been “planning” for years by literally just writing one terrible post and hitting publish. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. Did anyone even read it? Probably not. But it existed, and that was more than all my planning had ever accomplished. And though I didn’t continue with Japanese, I did learn French and I’m still studying it to this day. I also finally got off my duff and wrote books, though they were urban fantasy stories rather than romance. There’s not law that says we can’t change our mind, right? What counts is that I started doing something.

The Compound Effect of Doing

Here’s something cool that happens when you shift from planning to doing: momentum builds. Each small action makes the next one easier. Each completed task adds to your track record. Before you know it, people start noticing not what you say you’ll do, but what you consistently deliver.

Your reputation becomes less about your promises and more about your patterns.

My Challenge to You (And Myself)

So here’s what I’m thinking – what’s one thing you’ve been saying you’re “going to do” that you could actually start today? Not finish today, just start.

Maybe it’s finally publishing that blog post you’ve been drafting. Maybe it’s making that phone call you’ve been putting off. Maybe it’s just taking one small step toward that bigger goal.

Whatever it is, let’s stop building castles in the air and start laying some actual bricks.

Because at the end of the day, Henry Ford didn’t become famous for talking about cars – he became famous for making them. And making them accessible to regular people. And revolutionizing manufacturing in the process.

But it all started with doing, not just planning to do.

P.S. I’m definitely guilty of everything I just wrote about, but hey – at least I actually wrote this post instead of just thinking about it!

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So the other day I stumbled across this quote that completely stopped me in my tracks—like, mid-sip of my lukewarm coffee, mouth open, full internal monologue kind of stop:

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make a mistake.”
—Elbert Hubbard

First of all, shoutout to Elbert Hubbard for smacking us across the forehead with truth like that. (Fun fact: Hubbard was an American writer, philosopher, and all-around opinionated guy who also went down with the Lusitania in 1915. Yeah. THAT Lusitania. History is dramatic.)

Anyway, the quote hit me because it’s so painfully relevant to, like, every single anxious thought spiral I’ve had since birth.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve wasted an obscene amount of time fearing imaginary future screw-ups. Like, I’ve held entire fake arguments in my head, rehearsed how I’d apologize for things I hadn’t done, and talked myself out of trying stuff—just in case I wasn’t perfect at it on the first try. (Spoiler: I wouldn’t have been, because that’s how learning works. Duh.)

The Perfection Paralysis Is Real

You know that feeling? That itchy fear that if you say the wrong thing, wear the wrong thing, post the wrong thing, exist the wrong way, you’ll somehow ruin everything?

Yeah, that voice sucks.

It’s that low-grade hum in the back of your brain whispering, “Don’t do it. You’ll mess it up. People will laugh. People will notice. People will REMEMBER THIS FOREVER.” (Spoiler again: they won’t. Everyone’s busy worrying about their own mess-ups.)

I once spent three whole weeks obsessing over whether I used the wrong emoji in an email. Not because it was offensive or anything—just because I was afraid it made me look “unprofessional.” It was a freaking smiley face. A smiley face. I could’ve written a whole novella in that amount of time. With a plot and everything.

What Are We Even So Afraid Of?

Seriously though—what is the actual worst-case scenario?

You launch your website and a link is broken. Okay. You fix it.
You try watercolor painting and your flowers look like wet ghost pancakes. Big whoop.
You go on a date and accidentally spill water on your pants and it looks like you peed. That one’s…embarrassing, sure. But you survive. You laugh. You turn it into a story later. Maybe even a blog post.

Fear makes everything seem huge and final. But in reality? Most mistakes are just little speedbumps. They don’t mean you’re a failure. They mean you’re doing stuff. And that’s so much better than standing on the sidelines in a bubble of self-doubt.

Little Kids Don’t Worry About This Crap

You ever watch a toddler try to walk? They fall, like, a thousand times. They don’t cry about being “bad at walking.” They just face-plant, giggle, and try again. Sometimes with a half-chewed cracker in hand. Iconic behavior, honestly.

But somewhere along the way, we learn shame. We learn to measure ourselves against others. We get report cards, performance reviews, follower counts. Mistakes become something to dread instead of something to learn from.

It’s such a trap.

Here’s What Helps Me

When I catch myself in mistake-fear-mode, I ask: “Okay, but what if it goes right?”

Because weirdly enough, fearing failure is also fearing success. If you never try, you never fail. But you also never win. You never surprise yourself. You never have those weird, scrappy, beautiful moments of figuring it out on the fly.

Also—rumor has it that Thomas Edison reportedly failed over 1,000 times before inventing the lightbulb? Imagine if he gave up because he was afraid to mess up filament number 762. We’d still be bumping into furniture after sunset.

So Yeah….I’m Still Figuring It Out

So here’s my hot take, straight from the caffeine-rattled heart: Let yourself screw up.

Messy is okay. Awkward is normal. Trying and failing and learning loudly is human.

Don’t let the fear of imperfection keep you from living. Make the weird art. Write the bad poem. Tell the dumb joke. Launch the project even if it’s not “ready.” (Nothing’s ever really ready.)

Because honestly? The only real mistake is letting fear boss you around.

P.S. If you made a mistake today? Congrats. You’re alive and doing things. 10 points to you!

You know that feeling when you’re rushing around, trying to juggle a million things at once, and then—bam!—you stop and realize you haven’t really enjoyed any of it? I was having one of those “go-go-go” days when I stumbled upon this quote:
“Enjoy the little things in life … for one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.” – Unknown.

At first, I kind of brushed it off. I mean, life’s busy, right? Who has time to slow down? But then, the more I thought about it, the more I realized—this quote is a total game-changer.

We’re so obsessed with big milestones—getting that promotion, finishing a book, traveling to the dream destination—things that feel like they define our success or happiness. But what about all the stuff in between? The tiny, almost forgettable moments that happen while we’re on our way to those big things?

I’m talking about the morning cup of coffee that’s just perfect. The kind where the steam curls up, filling the room with that rich, comforting aroma. Or when you’re walking down the street and the sun hits you in just the right way, warming your face like a big, invisible hug. Yeah, those moments.

I know, I know, it sounds a little corny, but I swear, when you really start paying attention, you notice these little things all around you. And suddenly, your day doesn’t feel as rushed. It’s like you’ve hit “pause” and you get a moment to just breathe.

Here’s the thing, though. Life has this weird way of speeding by, right? One minute, you’re planning your week, and the next, it’s already the weekend and you feel like you haven’t fully experienced the days in between. For me, there’s this urge to always be “productive,” to tick things off the to-do list, and it’s easy to forget about those small moments that don’t seem like they matter in the grand scheme of things.

But when you do take a step back, you realize those are the moments that make up life. Think about it—how often do we catch ourselves laughing at something silly? Or remember the last time someone gave you an unexpected compliment? It’s those little slices of joy that sneak into our everyday routine, and they end up being the things you remember when you look back.

I can’t help but think of my favorite bookshops (you know, the cozy ones that smell like old pages and coffee). I’ve spent hours wandering through those aisles, with no real agenda except to get lost in the stories. The quiet hum of the shop, the soft shuffle of pages, the smell of aged paper—it’s one of those things that makes my soul happy. It’s nothing huge, but when I look back, I think that’s what I’ll remember: not the big trips I’ve taken, but the small, peaceful moments spent with a book and a coffee in hand.

And here’s another one—pets. Okay, I think back to when I used to have my cat, but those little moments when he would hop on my lap and snuggles up for no reason other than he felt like it—that is pure bliss. It doesn’t get more simple than that, but when I think about the kind of comfort I’ll look back on years from now? That’s it.

You might be thinking, “But how can these things really matter in the long run?” Well, that’s exactly why they do. They’re the things that make us feel connected to ourselves, to others, to the world around us. These tiny little moments fill in the spaces between the “big things.” They’re the ones that give you that warm, fuzzy feeling when you’re remembering your past.

The truth is, we often get caught up in thinking life is all about the major milestones. It’s like we’re so focused on reaching the “big stuff” that we forget the little moments are what build the foundation for our happiness. One day, you might look back and realize that the happiness wasn’t just in the big achievements—it was in the way the rain smelled after a storm or how your favorite song made you feel on a random Tuesday. It’s those moments that add up and build your story.

So, here’s my challenge to you (and myself): Start paying attention to the little things. Don’t wait until it’s too late to realize what you had. Take a pause, notice the details, and let yourself really feel them. Whether it’s a shared laugh with a friend, the feeling of soft sheets on your skin at the end of a long day, or the quiet moment when you’re staring out at the sunset—you’ll realize that these little things, in all their simplicity, are actually what makes life big.

At least, that’s what I’m telling myself the next time I’m rushing through my day.