Stop Learning?
Education is Noisy
Can I share a controversial take?
Conversations about education are terrible. Not terrible as in irrelevant or unimportant, but terrible in the sense that they're almost always negative and are very rarely productive.
No really, think about it.
Higher ed? “College is a scam.” “Student loans are out of control.” “You don’t even need a degree anymore.” “Everyone needs one just to compete.”
Public ed? “Teachers are underpaid.” “The system is broken.” “Politics are ruining the classroom.” “It’s outdated and slow to evolve.”
And then there’s the rest: “Stop reading books!” “Read more books!” “Take this course!” “Never take a course again!” “Learn by doing!” “No, learn then do!”
It's a mess.
So before I get into what I actually wanted to talk about (which, despite the title, is less about education and more about entrepreneurship) et me just say this:
Learning is good and I think you should do it.
Learning and Starting
Ok, let’s zoom in a little.
Like I said, this isn't a post about education. It’s about the role of learning in starting a business.
Because the second a person starts to feel that entrepreneurial itch is usually the same second they begin to tell themself:
“I don’t know enough.”
And honestly, they’re usually right.
What they get wrong is what they do next:
They go into research mode. Diving into podcasts, books, Twitter threads, newsletters, YouTube videos, ChatGPT prompts, and of course, the learning Holy Grail: courses.
They think if they just learn enough, they’ll be ready.
Problem is, the more you learn, the more you realize there is so much you don’t know.
Before you know it, you’ve been studying for six months and haven’t taken a single step forward.
So you give up.
Until the itch to build comes back. And the cycle repeats.
That’s the learning doom loop.
A Better Way to Start
This is the part where the “just take action” committee starts nodding along and reaching out for a fist bump.
Too soon, fellas.
Because while I don’t believe you need to learn everything before you start, I also don’t believe that learning is a waste of time.
You should learn. You just shouldn’t treat learning like a prerequisite to action.
The mistake people make isn’t that they want to learn, it’s that they think they have to learn (and have to learn everything) before they can start.
That’s the trap.
And the loudest voices online will push you into extremes. You’ve got one side shouting: “Books and courses are useless! Real entrepreneurs just start!” While the voice in your head says: “You don’t know enough. Keep researching. You’re not ready.”
Here’s the truth:
You can’t read your way into confidence. But you also don’t have to jump into the deep end blindfolded.
So what should you do?
Step 1: Write down everything you think you need to learn before starting. Don’t overthink it, just list out the tasks, concepts, or gaps in knowledge that feel like blockers. If you were starting tomorrow, what would you wish you already knew?
Step 2: Timebox your learning window. Set a short, defined period to study your list. It should feel fast, something that creates urgency and momentum. During that time, allow yourself to go deep, binging YouTube, following experts on social media, or even (gulp) taking a course.
Step 3: Define your first action step, then schedule it on your calendar, and make it non-negotiable.
Allow me to illustrate with a really dumb example.
Let's say you want to be a cowboy.
First, you write down everything you think you need to learn: how to ride a horse, how to use a lasso, how to feed and care for livestock, how to survive outdoors, how to shoot a revolver.
Next, you give yourself a few fast-paced weeks to learn as much as you can about those things. You watch YouTube videos, follow a couple ranchers on TikTok, read blogs, join a cowboy subreddit, and scroll through cowboy Twitter (I don't know if this exists, but at the same time, I know this exists. You know?).
Then when that predetermined day comes, you buy the boots, the horse, and the saddle and head to the ranch.
You're in. You're officially playing cowboy.
And here’s the beauty of it:
You got to learn. You got to satisfy that voice in your head that says, “I don’t know enough.” But you did it with action in mind. The learning had a deadline. Action was always the priority.
Of course, you don’t have everything figured out. Let me show you why that’s okay.
Learning Blips and Cowboy Analogies
Fast forward: You’re on the ranch, saddle in hand, horse by your side. You took action! Congratulations!
That’s when it hits you.
You never learned how to put the saddle on.
It wasn’t on your learning checklist and now you have literally no idea where to start. So what do you do?
Give up? You can’t do that, you already bought the boots! And the horse! And the saddle!
So what options do you have?
Option 1: “Just take action!” Fumble your way through it. Trial and error. Might work, might not. Might end up getting kicked by a horse.
Option 2: Pull out your phone and watch a tutorial video. Faster. Cleaner. Still might get kicked, but less likely.
Option 3: Ask another cowboy, one who has saddled a few hundred horses, to show you how it’s done.
This is an example of what I’d call a learning blip.
You’re in motion and you hit a wall, so you stop for long enough to learn what you need to learn to keep moving forward.
This is different from the doom loop. Here, you’re learning what you need when you need it.
Now, if you’ll allow it, I’d like to push this whole cowboy analogy one step further. That alright?
Thanks.
The saddle is on and now it’s time to ride. You’re nervous (you’ve never done this before). Should you ask that same cowboy to show you how it’s done? Or watch another video?
Nope. Because unlike the saddle incident, knowing how to ride was on your pre-start checklist. Meaning, you did watch videos, read blogs, and ask for advice on Cowboy Twitter.
This isn’t a roadblock. It’s discomfort. Big difference.
When you’re stuck, you need to learn.
When you feel uncomfortable, you need to act.
Think of this rhythm like a heart monitor:
Most of the time, you should be taking steady action. Moving forward. When you hit a wall, you need to immediately educate yourself in the most efficient way possible (upwards spike), then take that learning and apply it (downwards spike). Then, back to steady action.
This is what entrepreneurship should look like.
Especially in the beginning.
You don’t wait until you’re ready.
You learn enough to start, then you start.
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Keep on,
Jason