Doing something for the first time requires you to be OK with not knowing.
- You don’t know where potential pitfalls are.
- You don’t know what you’re overprepared for, and what you’re underprepared for.
- You don’t know what obvious mistake you made in your preparation – the first thing you’ll change for next time.
- You don’t know how it’s all going to turn out, and how the other participants will view the experience.
Being OK with not knowing these things doesn’t mean you don’t prepare. You prepare more the first time, because you try to cover every possible base. Even so, never forget that there are things that are impossible to know, and prepare to react to them when they arise.