#148 Sometimes we can't make the "perfect" decision (06/04/2025)

Photo: A video disc of me and this friend from when we were kids... Good old days.

During the holiday, I had hot pot with a friend. He's a teacher, but he's been thinking about starting his own business. However, he's been considering many things that aren't quite sure. He's ambitious but also meticulous. This reminded me of a story I recently read in a book, so I thought I'd share it with everyone:

A new school has been built, but one thing remains controversial: where should we lay the walkways on the grass? Some believe the walkways should wind around the grass to keep it green, while others think they should cut directly across it. One man suggested: "Don't build any walkways this year. That way, by the end of the year, we can see where the grass has been trampled and withered, indicating the direction students should be walking. Then we can simply lay those paths."

He's a genius.

Humans have a natural tendency to want to understand everything beforehand. This is true for starting a business, and it's true for many major life decisions: whether to immigrate, change jobs, or have children... But in reality, it's impossible to be 100% prepared for many things. Often, it's only some time after making a decision that you realize whether it was right or wrong. You'll never be smart enough, and you'll never be 100% sure what to do next. Only with time will the path naturally become clearer, just like the path on the grass in the story above.

Of course, the above is not an encouragement for everyone to do things without considering the consequences and just "do it first and see what happens." But if we are constantly arguing, thinking and "preparing" about what we should do, life will pass by in the blink of an eye, and we will have accomplished nothing.

So if you have a dream to pursue, and after thinking it over, you feel it's worth a try, like Sir Richard Branson said, "Screw it, let's do it!" In other words, "Don't talk so much! Just do it!"