701. Messy Action: How to Start Before You're 100% Sure

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16:32

In part two of the Messy Action series, Lesley Logan reframes messy action as something you reach for first, not a backup plan or a last resort. She explains why holding out for the right conditions quietly keeps you stuck, and what it really takes to move forward when you cannot see every step ahead. Lesley also shares honest stories about how small daily practices helped her push past fears and grow her Pilates business.

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In this episode you will learn about:

  • Acting ‘as if’ filters your choices through who you want to be.
  • How starting with 25% of the plan beats waiting for perfection.
  • Lesley's messy studio opening and why clients loved the evolution.
  • The power of smaller steps and running a nervous system check.
  • Why building a small win stack keeps your momentum going daily.


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Episode Transcript:

Lesley Logan 0:00  

Messy action isn't what you do when you don't know what you're doing, it's how you figure it out. 


Lesley Logan 0:04  

Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. 


Lesley Logan 0:47  

All right, Be It babe. Welcome back to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we do take messy action, and after 700 episodes, I hit my elbow on the thing, so I think that's perfect for the topic today. Because, my goodness, if you think you're supposed to be perfect after 700 episodes, you are mistaken, because you are a human being. I'm a human being, and we are all over here just trying to do the best we can. And if that's all you take away from this episode, that is enough. But we are on our messy action theme. So, on Tuesday, if you didn't listen to that episode we talked about stuck and how that can affect you taking action. Then we had a theme two or three weeks ago, maybe more, on what's keeping you stuck, and so the reality is that there's a lot of different things that keep us stuck, and we are often the reason why. We are often the one that gets in our own way. We blame it on other people, but it's typically usually us. It's our nervous system, it's our protection mode, it's our fear of responsibility, failure, judgment, all the things. So I want to talk about how messy action is a strategy. It's not just throwing things to the wall and seeing what sticks, although that can be it. It's actually more of a mantra to get you to take the first next step. So it's not a backup plan, it's not a last resort. I really think that's important to say, because most plans don't go the way that you expect, but if you have this idea that it doesn't have to be perfect, I just have to keep the next step going, then you will actually realize that you're not on a plan B or C. You're just working the first plan and following it with the momentum that it's getting, following the flow of the river. If a river hits a rock, it doesn't go, "Oh, I must stop." It goes around the rock, right? It goes on the next thing. It creates. It creates the Grand Canyon, so we keep going where it wants to go. So truly, messy action is the way forward. I love this: messy action isn't what you do when you don't know what you're doing, it's how you figure it out. It's not what you do when you don't know what you're doing, it's how you figure it out. So, instead of us reframing it like, "I don't know what to do here, so let's just throw this at the wall and see what happens," no, no, I gotta figure out what I gotta do, so let me try this over here. It's an experiment, right? If you skip ahead to the lovely intro, I like to listen to the intro on 1.5 speed, I'm not gonna lie, I like music that fast, but be it till you see it is identity through action, that's what it is. It's acting as if. There's a really good book called The As If Principle, and so if you act as if, then someday you will just become the as, the person, who you want to be, because you're practicing being that person. You're filtering things and decisions through the person you want to be. What would that person do if I was already that person? As opposed to waiting, which we already talked about in the last episode, how waiting is exhausting, it's annoying, it's frustrating. So messy action is really just normalizing imperfection.


Lesley Logan 3:22  

It means starting with 50% or 25% of the plan in mind. You know what the destination is, you don't really know the steps right before it, but you know that if you take these steps right here, you might get there. It's kind of like when they went off to see the Wizard. They're like, "It's that way," and they didn't know that there was a forest of apples and a bunch of monkeys that they were going to, but they could see it in the distance, and they could see the road right in front of them, and that's what they did. That's what starting with messy action is. It is posting before you think that the post is actually perfect, because I'll actually tell you that social media doesn't care if it's perfect. It's actually a waste of time, just put things up there. It is learning in real time. You get to be a learner. I'm still learning Pilates, and I've been teaching it for 20 years. I'm still learning. It's trying things out and adjusting as you have more information. That's taking messy action. Because having the perfect plan, let me tell you, things change. We taught at EDC. Let me tell you how much of that they had figured out to the T, who has what radio, who has what wristband, which wristband can go with what. Everything was well thought out, and then the weather sends it over 100 degrees. Okay, we've got misters. All right. Oh, now the weather is going to be 56 degrees, and the wind is going to go freaking crazy. You can plan everything to a T, and then the wind blows. So it's actually learning in real time. Okay, what can I do? What can I do? What can I do? We always talk about how if you want to support this podcast, you should be an OPC member. At OPC, we actually tell you it's brave and courageous to replace what you can't do yet with something you can do, and in doing that, you're constantly asking yourself, "Okay, what can I do? What can I do? What can I do? I can't do this, what can I do instead?" When you have that as a muscle in your brain, it allows you to take messy action more quickly, more easily, and just try it out. Oh, that was actually too hard for you today. Oh, that was actually exactly what I needed. Great, now you know. Messy action is not being reckless, it's being real. It's doing what needs to be done right now, and it definitely gets ruined if you're trying to be perfect. 


Lesley Logan 5:20  

So, okay, I've told this story before, but I don't think I've told it in this context, and maybe you're new and you haven't heard it. In 2018, early 2018, I realized I needed to open my own studio. I never thought I would, didn't really want to. I liked the freedom of renting, but that freedom was getting hampered because the studio was getting busier, and so for me to film and record my tutorials, I had to go later and later at night. I don't like the evening. I was having a hard time recording at home because, one, I only had room for the mat, and two, they were doing construction all day long. And it was just really annoying to constantly move our furniture around in our studio apartment so I could film, and I wanted to add reformer classes. So if I wanted to add reformer classes, I needed to open my own studio. So I thought I had this perfect plan. I knew the location I wanted. I ordered the equipment that I wanted. I had the perfect move-in date. I told the studio that was being run by some friends of mine when I was going to leave. I was like, "Let me stay until it's time, till my equipment arrives." And guess what? I didn't get to wait till my equipment arrived. They didn't like that, and so luckily I had the keys to the space. We had hung some stuff on the wall, and I texted all of my clients, "Hey, we're going to be here tomorrow, starting tomorrow. This is so exciting. Here's where you're going to come."


Lesley Logan 6:38  

And on the first day, I didn't have a trash can, didn't even have a trash can for them. They're like, "Where do I put this paper towel?" And I'm like, "Oh yeah, right over there, just in that box. I'm gonna go get a trash can on my next break." I also borrowed a Reformer from a friend, and I borrowed a Ped-O-Pull from a friend. I was just asking people, like, "Hey, what extra things do you have while I wait for my stuff to show up?" And then every day, Brad and I would try to put the studio more and more together, hit a Bed Bath & Beyond up with my coupons, and got the things that I needed. Got a fan, got a trash can, waited for a chair to come, it took forever, so it was frustrating, because I wanted my clients to move into this perfect studio. Guess what? They actually loved being part of the evolution. They actually thought it was fun to see every time they came in what new things we've done to the studio, what new equipment had arrived, what pieces had arrived. And so, yeah, I was embarrassed that I wasn't able to finish out my time at the other studio, but if I had let that drive the decisions I was making, I would not have been able to see what delight my clients took in being part of the journey, being part of the creation, letting me know, "Oh, I like that over there. Oh, actually, let's put that. Have you tried that over there?" It was so fun to let them help me decorate, so it was actually one of the coolest things that ever happened. And I'm really grateful, because my clients actually got really excited about the Ped-O-Pull because they had to use the Ped-O-Pull for 30 minutes, because that's all we had. It was just a lot of fun, and I would have missed out on that memory and that challenge, and how it made my brain have to force itself to be creative in that situation. 


Lesley Logan 8:13  

So, how do you do that? What would help you take messy action? Well, make the next step smaller. Can you do it in two minutes? Make it one step only, so it's not like, "Oh, I got to build my website with messy action." No, I need to order, buy the URL. Okay, I need to look at platforms where I can run a website. Okay, I need to choose a platform that I like. Oh, actually, before I do that, I need to compare the platforms, right? Like, what do I want them to do? Don't put "build your website" on your daily tasks, because that's too overwhelming. Can I make it fun, right? For my ADHD people: put music on, add movement to it, set a timer. I love a timer. I have a little kitchen timer on my desk, and it's really helpful for me when I'm feeling stuck and I just need to take action. I'm like, "Okay, I only have to work on this for the next 15 minutes," right? And that really helps me just get going, because I only have 15 minutes, so I'm just gonna do the best I can. I would also say remove the planning loops. You probably have planned enough already. Take the first step in your plan, but if taking an action just feels too big, it's because it's too big, right? So, you got to make it as small as possible. Go back to our habit series if you want to understand what that means and why that's important. Especially for my people who need the dopamine high to keep going, gotta make it small, gotta make it achievable. The other thing I would just say is make sure you're doing nervous system checks. You know, are you breathing? You start to hold your breath while you're thinking about doing something. There's a lot of fear that we got to breathe through. It's gonna be really hard to take action if we are holding our breath. And if your nervous system is feeling overloaded, overwhelmed, say it out loud. It's really, really helpful. Like, Brad and I will be working on something, and sometimes I'm like, "Oh my god, I'm just having, I'm actually scared, I'm having too much emotion around this right now," and it really does help to call that out, and to go, "Okay." Because why am I doing that? What's the fear that I'm having there? Is the fear that I'm having around this because I have a fear of responsibility, fear of judgment, fear of failure? Okay, so what is coming up? Because a lot of times it's just stuff that's in our head from our past experiences, or the way we were raised, and we can get in our own way when those things didn't even exist. We just made a story up. So it's really important that you're doing a nervous system check, that you have people around you that you can go, "Hey, I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now. Can I tell you what's going on?" And their job is not to be like, "Oh, you're fine." Their job is to go, "Sure, what's going on?" And then not give you 17 pieces of advice. It's to remind you to take messy action, and you can do this, right? I was having a little anxiety getting ready for something. I talked about this in an FYF. My husband's like, "Oh, let's call these people," and I was like, "Absolutely not. Those people are not going. I love those people. They're great people. Those people are not going to make me feel better in this situation. They're going to make me feel more nervous. So, who else can we call?" So, he called someone else who screamed with joy and exclamation, which really got me out of my head, right? So, maybe the first thing you do for your messy action is write down who do you call when you need a reminder to take messy action. So this is a hopefully good reminder. You're not forcing yourself into action, you are supporting yourself into action. Not forcing yourself into messy action, you are supporting yourself into messy action. 


Lesley Logan 11:33  

Well, you know, at this podcast we really love to celebrate little wins, right? Sometimes I have a big win that we share, but typically they're like we're in the process of something, and so what's really important for me to help you understand when it comes to messy action, you have to build momentum, which means having a small win stack. So every single day, what did you do that day that we can celebrate? Because if we're waiting until you finish the project, like for example, building the website, we're gonna be waiting for a fucking long time, six to eight weeks at least, right? Longer if you don't know what you're doing, so how can we be like, "I bought the URL," and make that super fun, and take people on the journey so they can share with you? The momentum is built in moments, not masterpieces. And so, yes, it's really beautiful to look at the sculpture when it's done, but mostly sculptures take years to do, and if artists only celebrated when it was done, that's not the best way. I would say they need to celebrate along the way, because it makes them enjoy the process. You're gonna enjoy the process more. So, this whole podcast is about being it until you see it, and the only way to be it until you see it is to act as if, which means you're not gonna know how to do it perfectly, because you're not her yet. You're being it until you see it to be who that person is. You don't know who it is, you're guessing, and so the only way that we can do that is to take the messy action, take some action, because it's the antidote to fear, it's how we get clarity. And if you really do think about, if you really do embody, be it till you see it, then you would be asking yourself, "Okay, the version of me that I want to be, what would they be doing right now?" Well, they would be doing this thing. Okay, then I go do that thing. They wouldn't be scared of that, right?


Lesley Logan 13:05  

For example, I remember when I was first starting the brands, and I was just getting really overwhelmed by all that I had to do, all the decisions I had to make, and I heard this person say, "CEOs don't put out every fire, they know which fires to put out." And I was like, "Oh, I'm the CEO of this company." I'm not now, thank God, I am the Chief Pilates Officer, the CVO, Chief Visionary Officer, but at the time I was the only employee for the company, and I was like, "Okay, I'm not supposed to put out every fire, I'm supposed to know which fires to put out. So if I was a CEO, what fires would I know are the ones to put out?" And just by acting like I knew what I was doing, I was like, "Oh, it's this one over here," right? That's it. That's the thing. So you're just gonna keep practicing what this whole podcast is about, be it till I see it. Ask that version of you, what would she do? What action would she take? She wouldn't be getting in her own way, you know that. And here's the deal: every time you take action, you actually prove to yourself that you can do it. You teach yourself what's possible, and that's how you build confidence. It's not by waiting. We do not build confidence through waiting. In fact, we actually chip away at our confidence every time we delay taking action on the thing we want to do. We do. It's how it works. It's how it works. So, my loves, now that we know you're not stuck, and we know you're not unmotivated, and we know you're not behind, you've just been waiting to feel ready, waiting with a little fear, waiting until things are perfect. But we're not doing that anymore, because the be it till you see it version of you would take the messy action. 


Lesley Logan 13:51  

So, I want to know which action you're going to take. What's your first next step? Send it in to the beitpod.com/questions. Send in what you're needing more advice and support on when it comes to be it till you see it. What's a topic or an expert you need to hear from to help you know what next steps to take? What's another subject we could do a solo episode on? You ask me, we'll create it for you. That's what this podcast is all about, because I'm here to help you be it till you see it, because that's what I'm working on. We're all in this together. You're not alone. So send this to a friend who needs to hear it. And until next time, say it with me, Be It Till You See It. 


Lesley Logan 15:16  

That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod.


Brad Crowell 15:59  

It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell.


Lesley Logan 16:03  

It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co.


Brad Crowell 16:08  

Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.


Lesley Logan 16:15  

Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals.


Brad Crowell 16:18  

Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.



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