I watched someone learn this the expensive way. A client spent eight months researching his options.
Eight months of calls. Spreadsheets. Advisor meetings. “I just need to understand it completely before I commit.”
When he finally decided, he chose what felt safe. The approach he could fully wrap his head around. The one that didn’t require him to trust something before he completely understood how it worked.
Eighteen months later, he was watching someone else get the results he wanted.
The approach he’d dismissed in month two — the one that felt too new, too unfamiliar, too hard to fully trust — someone else had started using while he kept researching.
That person was now 18 months ahead. Same goal. Different leverage. They started walking while he was still reading the trail map.
The gap between them now? He’ll never close it. Because while he closes his knowledge gap, they’re building their results gap.
He didn’t lack information. He lacked the willingness to learn by doing instead of learning by studying.
I See This Pattern Constantly
Smart people treating decisions like research projects. Waiting until they can see the entire path from the parking lot. Believing that more information equals better decisions.
It doesn’t.
Past a certain point, more research is just expensive stalling. You’re not gathering information. You’re gathering permission to stay comfortable.
The information you’re waiting for doesn’t exist yet. It only shows up after you start.
I saw this on a hiking trip this past weekend — a reminder that clarity doesn’t come from standing still.
We opted for an easier trail to start. One of the reviews mentioned a waterfall but made it sound unremarkable, so I almost skipped it altogether.
That “unremarkable” trail ended up being the best day of the trip. Not because it was challenging — it wasn’t. But because what mattered wasn’t in the description.
- Conversations I’d been too busy to have.
- Space to think.
- A waterfall that was anything but unremarkable.
Sometimes the path that looks simple ends up showing you the most.
You can’t see any of it from where you’re standing now. You only find it by moving forward. — Jack Trama
The next day, I got what I thought I wanted — the technical trail. Steeper. Harder. Focus required. Trails like that I’ve hiked hundreds of times, injury-free.
But this one cost me.
A small misstep. A twisted ankle, nothing major — but enough to stop me in my tracks.
And that’s when it hit me: We over-value the paths that look impressive and underestimate the ones that build quiet clarity. Just like in business — or life — not every tough path is growth, and not every easy one is avoidance.
You don’t need harder paths — you need truer ones.
The wrong decision can cost you momentum. The right one gives it back.
And you only see the difference once you start moving.
Here’s What Nobody Wants to Hear
The opportunities worth taking rarely reveal their full value upfront.
The ones that look perfect on paper usually deliver exactly what they promise. Nothing more. You can see all the value from the outside, which is why it’s easy to commit. No trust required.
The ones that actually change your position? Those look reasonable. Maybe even straightforward.
But they don’t reveal their full value in the pitch. They reveal it:
- Three months in, when you’ve developed capability you didn’t know you needed.
- Six months in, when the compounding effects start showing up in ways you couldn’t have modeled.
- A year in, when you realize this was the foundation for everything that came next.
You can’t see that from the trailhead. You can’t model it in a spreadsheet. You can’t research your way to certainty about what compounds.
You can only start walking and let the path show you what it becomes.
The People Who Win
The people I work with who win don’t have more information than the people who lose.
They have more tolerance for starting before they feel ready.
They ask: “Do I have enough information to take the first step?”
Not: “Do I have enough information to predict the entire path?”
Because they know the answer to the second question is always no. The path doesn’t reveal itself from the starting point. It reveals itself in motion.
The ones who struggle are the ones still standing in the parking lot, reading one more review, waiting for certainty that doesn’t exist.
Meanwhile, someone else is on mile three — learning what the reviews couldn’t tell them. Getting results while you’re still gathering reasons to wait.
So Here’s the Question
Are you researching because you need foundational information to take the first step? Or are you researching because you’re waiting for certainty about how it all turns out?
The first one is strategic. You need to understand what you’re doing.
The second one is impossible. No amount of research will show you what only experience can reveal.
The client who spent eight months researching? He understood the fundamentals by month two. He spent the next six months trying to research his way to guaranteed outcomes. And it cost him 18 months he’ll never get back.
The flat trail that looked unremarkable? I almost skipped it for the same reason — I couldn’t see the value from where I was standing.
The best decisions I’ve made all looked mediocre on paper. The worst ones looked great.
You can see enough to take the first step. That’s it. That’s all you get.
The rest reveals itself in motion.
Stop studying the trail. Start walking it.
👉 If this spoke to you, share it. Someone you know may be waiting for the reminder to stop waiting.
Originally published on LinkedIn.
