When my partners and I opened the travel agency that I was the CEO of, before that I didn’t have any experience of being a director. I’ve never managed a company, never prepared a business plan beforehand, and never interviewed employees earlier. I also did not take any partners or clients from my previous employer, because I thought that would be unfair and unprofessional.

So, you could say that I was starting from zero.

BUT

I already knew how to build new partnerships, relationships and I used this experience in the new company.

I knew how I envisioned our quality of service, how we be able to keep our customers, and I also had loads of new ideas on how I wanted to develop the business.

I knew what my strengths were and how I could achieve results through these.

And I had my curiosity with me, which helped me ask the right questions that needed to be asked in order to build what I wanted to build.

I was using a lot of the experience and knowledge I collected earlier, and I integrated these in the new situation, and this meant I wasn’t starting from zero.

So, there’s no such thing as starting from zero, when you look at it carefully. (At least I can’t think of any situation right now, where I would think this to be true).

You might be building a new business.

You might have a new role in a brand-new job.

You might be the newly appointed team leader of the team you’ve worked with for years.

You might be dreaming about a new career, which you’re afraid to jump into.