What a powerful statement. What does this mean to you? What is the first thing that hits your mind as you read this quote?

Recently I was listening to the Short Stories Long podcast, hosted by Chris “Drama” Pfaff featuring his guest, Cindy Eckert. When Cindy repeated this saying it really struck me in a positive way.

Cindy is a real self-made entrepreneur and the founder of The Pink Ceiling. In addition to helping break barriers by investing in and mentoring other women, she has also started and sold two businesses for more than $1.5B. First Slate Pharmaceuticals, which redefined long acting testosterone treatment for men then Sprout Pharmaceuticals which broke through with the first ever FDA-approved drug for low sexual desire in women — dubbed “female Viagra” by the media. After selling the company for $1B in 2015, she successfully fought to get the drug back and launch it on her own terms.

Cindy’s story isn’t unlike most of yours and mine. While she may have had quite the wild and adventurous upbringing and entrepreneurial success, her message still rings true. Many of us spend so much time trying to get things right or perfect on the first try before we put ourselves “out there”. We’ll dwell and overanalyze our moves, thoughts, and even finish products sometimes never to releasing them into the public eye. Self sabotaging ourselves to an extent.

Throughout Cindy’s professional career, while she did succeed quite a bit, she often would fail or run into challenges. But her determination to continue to put herself out there and TRY is what lead her to success. Her willingness to fail and learn from that experience is a prime example of not letting “perfection” slow her down or prohibit her from finding her true potential. **Learning through trial and error. **Just getting started and putting your ideas into motion is an accomplishment in and of itself.

What will you get started on today?

Ryan Marshall