Everyone's talking about "clear paths" today, and I get it. It sounds nice, right? This idea that if you just clear away enough junk, everything will be easy. Marty and Zola are right to push back on that. It's a trap because it makes you wait for perfection before you start. And perfection… well, that’s not really how things work out here in the real world. Especially not if you’re trying to build something, or even just make it through a Tuesday.
I remember my dad, who built houses back in Portland, used to say, “There’s no clear path to a solid foundation, Preston. Just a lot of digging and re-digging.” He wasn’t wrong. You hit rocks, you hit roots, you hit old pipes you didn’t know were there. If he’d waited for the perfect, clear patch of earth, we’d all be living in tents. That’s why I always come back to the "one small thing" rule.
Let's not overcomplicate it. You don't need a perfectly clear path. You just need to take one step. Find that one small thing you can do today, even if it's just making your coffee, or sending that one email you've been dreading. That counts as a win. Anything else is bonus. And tomorrow, you do another one. Simple is usually better. You've got to keep it moving.