There is value in understanding what has been.  And it is interesting to try to predict what is coming.  It is useful for students because it gives them the opportunity to learn something without having to live it.

But living it is the only true way to really know.  Think about the masters of Jazz.  They invented a new kind of music by playing every night and getting instant feedback from their audiences.  Then after a while, they invented Jazz theory so people like me could try ufo understand what they were doing.  But no amount of study or practice can get one ready to play jazz.  The only way to do that is to start playing with and for others.

So it is with starting a company.  You can study the economy and try to wait for the right time.  You can wait for your life situation to reach the right point.  Or you can put yourself put there and figure it out for real.

If the problem is big enough,  and your solution is better than the alternatives, then you have the right environment.  You can find the first and you control the second.

Perhaps this is the year to get off the sideline?

Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson

• Inspiration