OK, so you want to get from point A to point B. You want to get from where you are to where you want to be. There is a problem though… Where do you start?
What if your goal is to lose 30lbs? Where do you start if you’ve never lost weight before?
If your goal was to buy a house but you have never bought something so big, where do you start?
Now you might find some good tips already posted, but sometimes what happens is you hear one tip and then another and another. Once you have several different opportunities it becomes confusing. Like a 101 item dinner buffet you’ll be unsure where to start. Which tip is most effective? Which action produces the best results?
I’ve heard others say “I’m too far gone” or “It’s too hard, I’m too old.”
Well, here is something you can do.
Start where you are today and do what you can do.
It doesn’t matter if the task you choose is the perfect, best or most efficient. The key is to instead get in there, choose something and do it. With someone losing weight, I’d ask them if they could walk and if so can they walk for 20 minutes? Then that might be the best place to start for them. It’s something they can do. You might find you are better suited for jumping rope – only you would know. But whatever you can do, do it – today!
If you want to buy a house, but are afraid you can’t afford a mortgage? I’d ask what can you do right now? Can you call a realtor and tour some houses? If so, seeing what is possible will light a fire under you. You’ll start to figure out ways to earn enough for the mortgage. The point is, do what you can do. Make the call, visit an open house, just start – today!
Conquer the Fear Of Starting
I’ve met many people who are too afraid to choose the wrong action. “What if I make the wrong decision?”, they say. You know what happens? By not making a choice, they end up doing nothing. Like they say about computers – garbage in, garbage out. The person who does nothing gets nothing. Reminds me of when Geddy Lee from the band Rush sang “If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice.”
You can always conquer the fear of getting started by starting with what you can do. If you are afraid to start your own business, do something small and simple like signing up for a small business class at the community college. There you can ask questions, get your feet wet with some business theory and learn a touch of business accounting. Once you conquer a small step like this, you develop confidence to go further.
Nobody starts riding a bike on two wheels. We start on a tricycle or a bicycle with training wheels. The child always asks, “But what if I fall?” Falling is a part of life, if we’ve started out small though with training wheels and what we can do today, our fall hurts less.
There is not only 1 way to success, there are many ways…
As you seek answers, remember nobody can produce a solution that works 100% of the time for everyone. It’s never a one-size fits all. One person may be more physical than another and may make a fortune as a farmer – where the other makes their fortune as an accountant. But what each of these people has to do is start. And where do they start? With what they can do today.
TODAY!
Today is such a great day to start. In and of itself the word today is a powerful word.
Today is a solid measure. You will know at the end of every today whether you have done your best. Did you get started or did you play around? Did you make it past stage 1, 2,3? Or did you refuse to make a choice? The end of today will tell.
Today also has a special way of wiping away failure. If you make a mistake today, then you don’t have to make the same mistake tomorrow. Isn’t that great? In fact, let’s make so many mistakes today that we don’t make any more for the rest of the year. Hey, where do we start? You got it, with what we can do…today.
–Brad Isaac
{ 3 comments }
I wondered if you have read Derren Brown’s new book ? It has given me a lot of food for thought throwing a whole new light on the “hypnotic experience”.
I once saw him live in UK, he is very well informed regarding goal setting and mind changing approaches. His views on organized religion are a real eye opener, not for the faint hearted!
BTW Nice well thought out site. Well done!
Great stuff. In a world that’s often obsessive, judgemental and perfectionist, there’s so many reasons NOT to…
I heard someone call it “Getting off to a rough start”. I like that. Start doing something and tweak it from there.
Goal setting plays a major role to your motivation and success. Your goal can be as basic as to learn driving or losing body weight. Focus on what you desire and off what you don’t want. So, set your goals and start working on the ways to achieve them.
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