What can happen when you stop thinking and just do it!

I recently read a feature in The Daily Telegraph about Kate Nicholls, who sold up in the Cotswolds and moved to Botswana with her five children.

In 1996, recently separated and in her early 40s, Kate wanted to give her children a real adventure and teach them practical life skills.

Having left school at 16, Kate had initially gone into acting before ultimately taking a job researching lions in Botswana in 1996.

What she hadn’t planned on was becoming her children’s teacher when the local school wasn’t the right fit.

Despite having no formal teaching qualifications, she created an education around curiosity, nature and real-life experiences.

Her approach included learning outdoors, using everyday life to teach subjects like maths, and spending afternoons helping with lion research.

When she needed expertise in a subject, she found creative solutions. One summer, for example, a graduate artist stayed with the family in exchange for teaching art.

Her children went on to study at leading universities around the world—proof that there isn’t just one path to success.

What struck me most wasn’t that Kate had all the answers. She didn’t.
She simply kept solving the next problem.

It reminded me of a few life lessons that apply to all of us:

⚡ Don’t overthink—take the first step.
⚡ There is almost always a solution if you’re willing to look for it.
⚡ Learn as you go. Confidence grows through doing, not waiting.
⚡ Where you start is not where you finish.

In 2014 Kate returned to the UK with her youngest child. She continued homeschooling and eventually built a successful homeschooling business.

Today she helps students gain admission to American universities.

One quote from her really stood out for me:

“All children are gloriously different. One of the joys of my work is figuring out how they think and how I can open doors for them.”

Whether we’re raising children, leading teams or building businesses, perhaps there’s a lesson in that.

What do you think?

Could we achieve more if we spent less time worrying about getting it perfect and more time simply getting started?