Happy Friday,

I'm going to admit it, I don't spend much time on social media or reddit or any of that stuff. TikTok, however, makes up for it.

One interesting thing about TikTok is how good it is at curating the videos to show you. For me, I get all sorts of stuff but a pretty constant theme are people pushing side-hustles and passive income opportunities.

Strangely enough, I have friends who are also now looking for another side job or income opportunity. I think COVID and the great resignation did a wonderful job at making lots of people reconsider betting their livelihood on a single source of income.

I bring this up because this week I started a new business. At least all the legal stuff. My friends were amazed at how quickly and easily I made this seem, and to me, it was quick and easy.

Because I've done this before. I've put the reps in on starting a business.

They are paralyzed at the newness of the steps and hesitate to take action because it's something they've never done.

This is exactly what it's like with any substantive change, even at work.

Bet you were wondering when I'd get to the point.

Take teams that have been slammed with trouble-filled manual releases for years. Even if automation can solve almost all of their woes they will find every excuse not to take the first step. The newness is paralyzing.

In their minds, they can understand it, plan it, and agree to it, but as soon as it comes to taking action they will stop.

For me, I find that it can be useful to frame these moments of embarking on some new thing less as change and more as practice.

The first attempt will be clumsy, and full of problems, and we probably won't like it. The second time will be better, as will the third, etc.

Putting in the reps.

The strange side here is that also means we have to withhold judgment of that change for a while because if we judge too early it's when we're clumsy at it. If we judge too late it's now a habit.

In my experience, habits form in about 3 months.

So when you want to embark on a change, think about how you'll get everyone to put some reps in first. Each repetition makes the next easier, faster, and smoother with more benefits.

Sincerely,

Ryan