Liftoff! (Sort of.) When Visionaries Learn to Flip the Switch

The final installment in "The Biology of Building" series

There's a profound irony in building a skincare business around the concept of binary cellular states while personally struggling with my own version of a biological switch. What I didn't initially recognize was how perfectly this paralleled my own creator's journey.

Over these past months of isolation in Montana, I've been immersing myself in the ideas of great entrepreneurs that speak to me. I've sprinkled some of my favorite of their ideas in my story below. My hope is that the application of these ideas in my journey may inspire or help others who find themselves caught in similar cycles of creation and execution.

The Visionary's Paradox

Years ago, my boss Patrick delivered one of those observations that permanently embedded in my consciousness.

"Your greatest strength as a strategist is also your greatest weakness," Patrick said.

He went on to explain that I am a visionary, but I didn't yet have the ability to turn off researching and the search for the next strategic insight.

He observed that I struggled to flip that switch and move forward with a concrete direction. A defined strategy. The pathway by which we would build a specific sales campaign.

The truth in these words has haunted and guided me ever since. My greatest strength—seeing possibilities, connections, and novel approaches—becomes my greatest weakness when I cannot transition to execution.

This isn't just my personal quirk; it's a recognized pattern among visionary thinkers.

Harvard Business Review research suggests that approximately 65% of innovation projects stall because teams get caught in what they call "exploration traps"—continuing to seek perfect understanding rather than moving into action.

The visionary mind craves complete clarity before taking steps forward, often not recognizing that some clarity only emerges through action.

10,000 Iterations, Not Hours

Naval Ravikant's perspective on mastery transformed how I view my own process:

"It's not about 10,000 hours, it's about 10,000 iterations. 10,000 tries. 10,000 experiments."

This reframing freed me from seeing my constant iteration as failure.

As Alex Hormozi puts it:

"Most people confuse motion with progress. They're busy with activity, not productivity. Are your iterations moving you forward, or just in circles?"

The past two months of building Proof Positive Skin Care™ have been a masterclass in iteration. Each day brought a completely new way of looking at, positioning, or building this business. Yesterday's certainty of "this is it!" would dissolve into today's completely different perspective.

At times, the process felt maddening—as though my mind couldn't stop generating alternatives, couldn't settle on one path forward. I isolated myself in my Montana home, barely emerging except for essentials. I lost track of days, time, even my sense of self at moments.

As Chris Williamson wisely observes:

"Creative breakthrough often requires removing yourself from the noise of consensus. The lone wolf doesn't seek approval mid-hunt."

But each iteration brought me closer to the essence of what I'm truly creating. Each version revealed both blind spots and new possibilities that the previous iteration couldn't see.

As Dan Koe puts it:

"Creation is destruction. You must be willing to destroy yesterday's truth to discover today's insight. Most people stop creating because they're unwilling to dismantle what they've already built."

These words hit home for me each time I tore down my previous day's work and started fresh.

The Protection State of Creation

Looking back, I now recognize that my exploration phase mirrors what happens in skin cells during Protection state:

Similar to the Protection state in skin cells, where energy is reallocated away from growth toward defense, my mind spent weeks redirecting energy away from execution toward continued exploration.

Not because I was afraid (though I definitely had moments of fear), but because my biology as a visionary demands complete understanding before taking action.

The problem? Complete understanding is a mirage that keeps moving away as you approach it.

The Regeneration Moment

Last night at 1 AM, after working for 20 hours straight, I faced a crucial reality: the website would not be finished for today's launch. I felt the panic rising in my chest.

So what did I do?

I googled "what businesses have launched with an unfinished website?" (Yes, I literally typed that into Google at 1 AM.)

The answer made me laugh with relief. Dropbox launched with nothing more than an explainer video and an email waitlist. Zappos started with phone orders and shoe photos from local stores. Airbnb began with a simple landing page for three air mattresses.

As Alex Hormozi wisely notes:

"At some point, you have to stop planning the perfect thing and start building the imperfect thing. Imperfect execution beats perfect planning every time."

This was my switch-flipping moment—my transition from Protection to Regeneration state. From exploration to execution. From perfecting to releasing.

Research from Stanford's Entrepreneurship Database shows that startups that pivot quickly based on market feedback are 3.6 times more likely to achieve high growth than those that spend extended periods in planning phases.

Iteration doesn't end with launch—it transforms through contact with reality.

The Cellular Wisdom of Creation

Perhaps the most profound insight comes from returning to cellular biology:

Both Protection and Regeneration states serve essential purposes. Cells need Protection state to survive environmental threats. They need Regeneration state to thrive and repair.

Similarly, both exploration and execution serve essential purposes in creation. We need exploration to discover novel approaches. We need execution to create tangible value.

The wisdom isn't in eliminating either state but in developing the capacity to transition between them at the optimal moment.

Hormozi says something that feels so relevant to my situation:

"The gap between strategy and tactics is where most businesses die. You must be able to think abstractly and concretely—often within the same hour."

I think my challenge has been the "within the same hour" part. I could easily spend weeks in the abstract before forcing myself into the concrete.

And as Ryan Holiday puts it:

"The obstacle is the way. What stands in the way becomes the way."

My obstacle—the inability to complete the website on time—became my way forward into a simpler, more focused launch.

Beyond Self-Judgment

The old version of myself would have seen this launch pivot as confirmation of weakness—evidence of my inability to "flip the switch" at the right time.

But Naval Ravikant offers a different perspective:

"Intelligence isn't about being right all the time. It's about the willingness to adapt when you're wrong."

Chris Williamson reinforces this mindset:

"The ability to pivot is not a weakness. It's the ultimate form of strength—acknowledging reality faster than your competitors and responding accordingly."

This reframes my launch situation entirely. The iterations weren't weakness in action—they were necessary evolution. And the pivot to a simpler launch wasn't failure but adaptation.

What's changed most profoundly isn't my tendency to iterate—it's my relationship with that tendency. I now accept that my visionary strength comes with an execution challenge. I've defined the frame through which I'm seeing this journey, and I'm curious rather than fearful about what this "mishap" will add to the business in the months ahead.

Dan Koe speaks to this evolution in a way that felt like he was speaking directly to me:

"True freedom isn't doing whatever you want. It's accepting yourself exactly as you are, while working deliberately on what you wish to become."

Gosh, I wish I'd understood this years ago.

The Journey Continues

As I launch Proof Positive Skin Care™ today with a website that's likely just a single page, I'm practicing this wisdom. I'm flipping the switch from Protection to Regeneration—from exploration to execution—while honoring the journey that brought me here.

Just as skin cycles between Protection and Regeneration throughout life, creators cycle between exploration and execution throughout their journey. The question isn't "How do I stay in execution mode forever?" but rather "How do I develop the wisdom to transition between states at the optimal moment?"

Naval captures this cyclical nature perfectly:

"The trick is to know when you're experimenting and when you're procrastinating. Experimentation has a hypothesis and acceptance criteria. Procrastination has neither."

This is the biology of building—understanding the natural cycles of creation and honoring them while developing the capacity to navigate them with increasing skill.

Thank you for joining me on this journey of parallel discovery—where skin science, business building, and personal growth have intertwined to create something I believe will genuinely help people. I invite you to join the waitlist for Proof Positive Skin Care™ and be among the first to experience this framework when the full site launches.

I'd love to hear your thoughts: Do you recognize this light switch in your own creative process? How do you navigate the transition from exploration to execution?