I haven’t mowed my lawn in 2 years.
No, it’s not as high as you’d think. I normally pay a neighbor kid to mow it. Well, he’s been away for the past 2 weeks. So I thought I should probably break down and mow it myself.
It’s amazing how used you can get to having a service do something…
The problem though is I mentally made more of the job than what really was there. It seemed like a horrible task. I’d have to push that heavy 14 year old lawn mower around the yard. The mower might not even start. Or a part might fall off of it – ensuring a headache for the rest of the afternoon. Yes, it would be great exercise, but sheesh, what a pain.
Starting
What I did was trick myself into doing it. I made a deal with me where all I needed to do was pull the lawnmower out of the shed and fill it with gas. I could put it back if I didn’t feel like mowing after it was fueled. So I put on some old jeans and tee shirt and set out for the major task of putting gas in the lawnmower. 
I pulled out the lawnmower and filled it with gas. "Well, since it’s got gas in it, I might as well test it to see if it starts," I thought. It started just fine.
From there, it was natural enough to run a few rows through the grass. After a pass or two, it was no longer a chore. I was having some fun and free to brainstorm without being interrupted by kids or the phone.
An object in motion…
Starting, puts you in motion. And like Newton’s law of motion "An object in motion tends to stay in motion unless acted on by an external force."
By setting my objective of just filling up the tank with gas, the rest was just allowing the law of motion to have it’s way. Starting was the hard part. So I set the level of starting low. Once I started, the rest almost took care of itself.
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I’ve found that the hardest part is getting started. Once I get myself to start a task, not finishing it becomes the worst possible outcome. I have to make myself start. I’ve tried to trick myself into starting, but I never fall for that.
Isn’t this what goal-setting and achieving is all about – breaking down that ‘impossible’ goal into smaller chunks that you feel good about when you have done them? And just think how much you saved by not having to pay the kid!
@Eric, when you say you can’t trick yourself to start. What about the deal I mentioned earlier? Picking one small task that gets your foot in the door. You can always drop it if need be.
@Rod, of course you’re right. and I can now use that money for more important things. like gasoline!
With a major task though, starting is required more than once, and its a problem…
Like selling, for eg. First, you have to start making a prospect list, then start to make dreaded phonecalls, then actually start for the appointment, then start for the close. If you can’t close immediately, leave prospectus / material and book a follow up. Then, start for the follow up.. thats a lot of starts to get one thing done.
And each start, is a fresh start by itself.
Chores, as you have mentioned, are quite simpler though… but can you have more ideas for tasks which require multiple starts? Its really tough to start so many times to get just one thing done.
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