Launching a new career? It really is sink or swim

I'm a virgin.  A blogging virgin that is and there's something unexpectedly daunting about sitting down with a blank screen inviting you to fill it.  You wonder if what you have to say is interesting enough, if anyone is going to find the tips and tricks that you will share of value.  You think you have not only a blog inside you, but speeches, articles and books too.  And yet, you still wonder.  

Remember when you were a kid and you watched all the kids jump off the super high board at the pool? The one where you had to climb a ladder for what seemed like forever and then when you got up there you could feel the bumps of the board under your feet and the space around you very vast and scary? You realize that this might not have been your smartest idea, you felt somewhat small and fairly alone.   Then, you walked slowly to the end of the board and made the fatal mistake of looking down.  It was so far! And you were so high! And your friends were down there watching you, encouraging you and razzing you.  You knew you couldn't turn around yet you knew there was no way you were going to jump either.  So, you stood there, for what seemed like forever.  The kids behind you were shouting because they had jumped before and were much braver than you were; so they rushed past you and soared.   "I can do this!" you said to yourself.  "Are you crazy?!" another voice in your head answered.  But Pride wouldn't let you climb back down that ladder, not with all the kids watching you. 

So, you walked to the end of that board, your toes clinging to the edge and you just fall. You didn't jump, you just stepped off and let gravity take you because you knew you were going to die.  Then with a mighty splash you feel the too cold water surround you and you open your eyes and realize you didn't die! You did it!  When you came out of the water you looked around and there were your peers looking at you with new found respect when only moments before they were calling you chicken.   And you were proud and eager to do it again so you clambered up the ladder and with only slightly less trepidation you do it again, only this time, you didn't just fall, you walked.  

Launching a new career is like jumping off a high board.  You believe you can not only do it, but you'll be a Rock-Star at it and yet what if you're wrong?  That's my life today.  I'm on the high board, I'm watching speakers rush past me and dive off fearlessly.  I'm standing on the edge, my toes are curled around the end of the board and I've got the speakers behind me nudging and the ones who've gone before me encouraging.  I'm falling off the high board, I'm fairly certain I won't die.  

This journey is one that I am confident will bring me more joy and satisfaction than any other professional endeavor.  In today's economy, profound reinvention is the order of the day.  What is it that you must do today so that tomorrow it'll be you rushing past the person on the board, not falling but jumping?