Winging it: my new-found philosophy (and a bit of a book review)

I’ve just finished reading Winging It by Emma Isaacs. The title alone was alluring, because I feel like lately I’m always just “winging it”. The new business I’m building? Winging it. My other job? Usually winging it. Motherhood? I’m totally winging it (and often flapping around out of control and running into glass windows, just quietly).

I’m not going to summarise the book for you, because sometimes when I read book reviews, I decide I no longer need to read the book. And I feel like that would be an injustice.

But Emma Isaacs made me feel like it’s totally okay to wing it in most circumstances. You don’t have to be an expert on something before giving it a go. In fact, you’ll never become an expert on something unless you give it a go. Failures will happen, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

At first I thought ‘Winging It’ would be primarily focused on business, but I was glad to discover it was applicable to many areas of life. The book did cover topics such as business and leadership, but it was also fabulous for personal growth and improving your mindset.

We get ‘stuck’ in life so often. Sometimes it’s because we feel like we don’t know enough to make a change. Other times it’s because we don’t want to fail. Or we don’t want to look like a fool. But so many success stories began with someone who took the plunge and had a go, even though they might not have felt 100% ready. I know most of the good turning points in my life were a result of me saying “ah, stuff it – I’ll give it a whirl and see what happens”.

In saying that, taking a leap of faith, or ‘winging it’ is actually very uncomfortable for me! I do like to have a good plan before doing anything. But every now and then, you have to give yourself a little nudge and just take flight. Life is too short to be constantly stuck in the planning or dreaming phase.