Figureoutable

A couple of weeks ago, my wife sent me a reel about the concept of “figureoutability.” The idea is that nearly everything is “figureoutable” if you really want to learn it. And, short of genuinely advanced academic topics that are out of my realm of understanding to begin with, I’ve found this to be almost universally true.

As a younger man, there were a few things that really intimidated me. One of these was carpentry, and another learning to play the guitar. I’ve always been fascinated by both of these activities but was too scared of screwing them up to dive into them.

But with age came some clarity and wisdom. Also, YouTube helps! It turns out that the two things have something in common: they are both based on common patterns. A standard wall is framed on either 16” or 24” centers. Everything you will buy to add to your house structurally is designed around standard patterns. Doors come in standard sizes (32”, 34”, 36”, etc.), along with windows.

The guitar is similar in that familiar core patterns are used in all music. Familiar chords are used in tons of songs, and then familiar, common shapes create the scales that run up and down the neck.

I finally had a paradigm shift that came with age. These things were not mystical; they were totally figureoutable. Mostly, they are reliant on learning core skills and building on those skills every single day. Not comfortable or satisfied with how the last wood project turned out?

Build something else. Nervous about getting started because of perfectionism? Start anyway and figure it out. Your mind is making it harder than it actually is. Afraid your chords are going to sound like trash? They will, but play them anyway. And again the next day. And the day after that.

My point is this: whether you are building a garden shed for the first time, strumming a guitar for the first time, or starting your own business for the first time, it is figureoutable. Just jump into it and practice the fundamentals over and over and over. Through repetitions, you will find clarity, I promise.

Is There Anything That Isn't Figureoutable?

Yes, there are a lot of things that are out of the realm of figuring out on YouTube and Google. You can learn a lot about nuclear fusion, but please don't put it into practice.

But you can learn a whole lot of things good enough to put them into practice. Back when I was a young idiot in the Air Force, I was talking to my supervisor about the FAA Airframe & Powerplant license, which is the licensing that all aircraft mechanics must hold to work on airplanes legally.

He described it as a "license to learn." Look, all you are trying to do now is just get your foot in the door. And even though the A&P license takes 36 months of training to be qualified for (it is a real ball-buster of a license, which is why I haven't ever gotten it) is nothing more than a primer on real airplane maintenance.

The same holds true for most disciplines. How many people learned different tech languages from paperback books? Probably thousands. My former father-in-law learned programming in the '90s from books he got at the library while he worked full-time at a printing press. Did it work?

He's been working for Microsoft in Seattle for about a decade and worked for Hill's/Science Diet as a tech lead for a decade or so before that.

Thankfully, a lot of skills in high demand now have a much lower threshold of entry than being an A&P and pay a lot better. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that you can spend 6-12 months learning a high-demand skill well enough to start landing gigs and, within another 6-12 months, leave your job. It took me six years, but it didn’t have to. If I had invested more in myself early on instead of figuring ALL of it by making mistakes. But I am proof that you can not spend one cent on coaching or courses and still learn the ropes (and make a ton of money).

The world is absolutely FLUSH with cash. Recession my ass. Look around. People are blowing money like there’s no tomorrow. My sleepy, kind of dumpy hometown of Topeka has a base annual GDP of over fifteen billion dollars. Money is NOT the issue.

So get your ass out there, and start figuring it out.

Want to take years off of your solopreneur journey? Let’s talk. With what I know now, I could shave years off of my own journey.

Also, thinking about diving into Upwork but you don’t know how or where? I’ve earned over $70,000 on Upwork, so I wrote a little book about how I did it. Check it out!