It Never Shows Up Anyway
Let me tell you about one of my favourite experiments.
It’s called the Marshmallow Challenge.
Teams are given spaghetti, tape, string and one marshmallow.
The goal is simple. Build the tallest tower that can hold the marshmallow on top.
Sounds easy, right?
Here’s the funny part.
The groups that often win are not engineers.
Not executives.
Not “experts”.
It’s 5 year olds.
Yep. Kids.
And the reason is powerful.
Kids don’t overthink.
They don’t sit around designing the perfect plan.
They don’t debate strategies for 20 minutes.
They don’t worry about getting it wrong.
They just start building.
They try something.
It falls over.
They adjust.
They try again.
They learn by doing.
And while adults are still talking about the “best approach”, the kids are already on version three.
Most adults do the opposite.
We plan too much.
We wait too long.
We want everything to be perfect before we begin.
So we build this beautiful idea in our head.
Then we add the marshmallow at the very end.
And it collapses.
Because real life does not reward perfect plans.
It rewards movement.
There’s a simple word for what the kids are doing.
Prototyping.
It just means:
Build as you go.
Try small.
Learn fast.
Improve daily.
It’s not about getting it right first time.
It’s about getting started.
Momentum beats perfection every single time.
Here’s the line I want you to remember.
In life, whatever you want to do
Don’t wait
Just start
You can perfect it later
That business idea.
That fitness goal.
That content you keep delaying.
That change you know you need to make.
You don’t need permission.
You don’t need perfect conditions.
You just need movement.
If you take one thing from this article, let it be this:
Start messy.
Learn fast.
Adjust often.
Keep going.
Because the only real failure
Is never starting at all.
