Genesis – The Doubts
The Doubts
“My voice is not good enough. I don’t like the sound of this. I don’t think I can do it. Why is my life so complicated? I wish I were taller or younger. I wish for this or that…
We have all been there at some point in our lives, wondering if we have what it takes to achieve our desires.
I can’t guarantee that you have what it takes, but I am sure you will never know until you start.
Unbounded Growth,
This is our story, your story.
Every adventure, every great achievement, every accomplishment has a starting point. A time and place where one can point and say, “This is where it all began.”
We live in a world where people often want to achieve greatness before they even begin. We envision our lives and how things will unfold for us before stepping out of the door, making sure the weather conditions are perfect.
“YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE GREAT TO START, BUT YOU HAVE TO START TO BE GREAT.”
Zig Ziglar
Unbounded Growth wasn’t any different. I wanted everything to be perfect before we launched this podcast: the right equipment, the perfect location (a soundproofed studio), the ideal microphone, and all the necessary details. Without realizing it, time passed—a week, a month, a year, then 5, then 10 years, and I was still waiting for the “perfect” moment to start.
Baby Steps
In 2012, after learning English for about nine months, I felt confident enough and wanted to share my approach and strategy for learning. Coincidentally, I started reading books that gave me more knowledge, material, and lessons to share with others. The problem was, I didn’t have EVERYTHING I needed to start. For starters, I had no proper equipment or the right location, and I didn’t even know how to get started.
I recorded a few episodes using my laptop camera and treated the sound with Adobe Audition, and the results? I hated it, I disliked my voice and accent; I hated everything about it. My brothers Zéf-Osée and Vincent still wanted to know how it went, and they wanted to listen to the episodes. To my great surprise, they loved the recording and started sharing it with their friends, who also loved what they were hearing. I still wasn’t confident enough, and I stopped.
Fast forward, nine years later, in 2021, I gave it another try, with better equipment (not perfect, but better), the same concept, different ideas… I sent it to Zéf-Osée, Vincent, and my wife (then fiancée) Plamedie, and they all liked it… but I did not; it was not perfect.
The Official Launch
In 2022, after some amazing encounters with my friend and writer Eric Mizele, PhD Student and now co-host Adam Shebindu, and watching Zéf-Osée register His podcast Juuni Podcast, I finally decided to do it; I registered and launched it. Recording our first Episode with my new Co-host, Adam Shebindu, I loved the dynamic and the content, and although still not perfect, this time around, I just did it with what I had and moved forward. There was much encouragement from the people close to me, my wife, the Muteba Clan.
What Did I learn through the process?
Traffic Lights Are not Always Green.
Zig Ziglar expressed an interesting thought in His motivational speeches: “If you wait for all the lights to be green, you will never leave your house.” Don’t you find it interesting that, more often than not, we don’t start simply because all the lights are not green? We don’t have the perfect house, or the perfect car, or the perfect location, or the perfect equipment. While we wait for all the lights to be green, we are stuck at home and never make any progress.
A professor, aiming to motivate his students, shared the story of legendary companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft, emphasizing that they all began in humble garages. He then asked his students: ‘What’s stopping you from starting?’ In response, one student humorously remarked, ‘I don’t have a garage yet.‘ Don’t be like that student. If you don’t have a garage, start with what you have. Perfect is a Myth; start with what you have and perfect it with what you will get.
Sometimes, One Step Forward is better than 1,000 plans
I am a big fan of planning. I think I am actually an over-planner. Plans are great, and I think everyone should have one for everything. However, plans can also be deadly when all the boxes don’t check. Plans become dangerous when they stop you from moving forward. When your plans become a stumbling block, look at what you have and start with what you have.
One is too small of a number.
John Maxwell once observed that “One is too small of a number to achieve greatness.” I always thought I could achieve everything alone; I never sought extra help. If I wanted it, I would work hard to get it and find ways to learn.
It is probably why I learned videography, photography, sound editing, and yard work… all for never wanting help from others. Thank God I learned my lesson soon enough that to achieve anything great, one is too small of a number. Today I rely heavily on Adam and other people on the team for social media work (I still can’t figure social media out…lol).
I reach out to friends for help in producing video, sound work, marriage, and many other departments where I am not as great as I think. The other problem with running a one-man band is that you can’t play all the instruments simultaneously, and even if you do, the music will stop when you do. Having a team at Unbounded Growth has allowed us to continue moving even when one of us is incapable. The cliché statement is not so cliché, ‘Teamwork makes the dream work.’ Any NAVY SEAL will tell you you cannot survive ‘HELL WEEK’ alone. You can’t do life alone, either.
Start Today
A Chinese saying goes: “The best day to plant a tree was 25 years ago; the second best is today.” Don’t wait ten years like I did because it’s not “perfect;” Don’t wait for all the lights to be green before leaving your house. Don’t wait until you are inspired to start doing something. Just start, and just do it today with what you have. Do it again tomorrow. Overcome your fear of failure. What’s the worst that can happen? Have you ever wondered?
If you are struggling to start today, contact us for a free consultation to help you start today and become the best version of yourself. Catch our Podcast every Tuesday at 6 AM CST on Spotify or Apple Podcast, or you can watch us on YouTube. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for a dose of our “Growth Nugget,” designed to help you grow and produce at your highest level.