Starting from scratch
We're rarely, truly, starting from zero
A few weeks ago, I told my friend Dana that I wanted to explore the art world more. Maybe even consider selling some of my paintings this year.
I also told her that I still have so much to learn! Like what people might like to buy. How to reproduce work at the highest quality. What art I need to create to start to establish myself.
Her response? You already have a lot of art to start. You already know what people think of some of it. You just need to do it.
She was right.
When I start something new, my default is to think like I’m operating from base camp when I’m already partway up the mountain.
It’s like I’ve flipped open a blank page and forgotten everything I wrote in the pages before it.
Maybe you’re like me: thinking you’re just planning well!, but inadvertently pinning yourself farther back on your path than you really are.
It’s important to remember that you’re rarely, truly, starting at zero. Your new path likely checks one or more of these three boxes:
1. You already know the work.
In the past, you did the tasks required in your next chapter.
In my last few years at PayPal, we were caught in a vortex of re-orgs. I held three different roles in 18 months. Each role supported a different customer segment, products, and direct reports. It felt like starting at zero every six months, which was demotivating more than seven years into working at the same company.
Yet somehow, I happened to be good at countering that feeling of starting from scratch. When the dread crept up, I immediately reoriented myself to my place on my mountain.
While the details of my context kept changing, I had “reset” so many times in the past that I knew what I was doing. I knew what actions to take to set up my team and myself to deliver results on this new path quickly.
2. You’ve had parallel experiences.
You can apply principles from an earlier endeavor to this one.
Maybe I’ve never attempted to sell my art before, but I’ve already built a business with so many parallels: birthing a business out of a hobby, following intuition rather than a plan, staying true to my unique value rather than force-fitting myself into a mold.
My learnings from the last two years in business absolutely apply here: if this is going to be a second gig, I’ll eventually need to define a target buyer, consider my business model, and determine what more I need to invest in to help me build. But I don’t have to do all that right away, or in a structured way, at this point. I know what questions to ask and answer when the time comes for them.
3. You’re naturally evolving.
Your new start is a natural progression from your prior start.
In the past month, I’ve spent quite a bit of time reflecting on my coaching business’s core value, offerings, and messaging. I have clarity that in 2026 I’d like more of my revenue to come from organizations and less from consumers. But true to my default of pinning myself at zero, my first thought was, “I’ll have to re-do everything”.
I had to intercept my thinking quickly: I’m not overhauling anything. My core unique value hasn’t changed; I’m still hands-on in supporting leaders in adapting to the demands of growth. One-on-one coaching is still my flagship offering. How I extend my value this year into workshops and leader development programs is new. But I’m not creating a new revenue pie chart; I’m just evolving the categories and sizes of the slices in my existing one.
So if you also default to the mindset that you’re farther down the mountain that you truly are, consider the experiences you already have in your toolkit. Where on the mountain are you, really? How would you adjust your next step from this place?
If you’d like to chat about helping your leaders to shift their mindsets and behaviors for growth, reply to this email or reach out to info @ coachingwithfarah.com