You Have to Start Somewhere
I open my laptop to stare at a blank screen. My mind is empty like a TV that lost cable and is all fuzzy now.
I’m trying to write an article, but I have no clue what to write and no idea where to start. I am now faced with the hardest part of my morning writing routine: getting started.
I take a deep breath and start the timer.
Getting started feels like trying to climb a mountain, but once you get on the mountain it becomes much easier to climb it.
It takes me a minute to get in the groove. Without fail, the first few paragraphs are about how I don’t feel like writing or I don’t know what to write about. Then, I’m able to get into it and I’ll free-write or segue into a topic for further elaboration.
Getting started may not be the hardest part of a project, but it is the crucial first step. If you don’t start, you’re never going to get anywhere.
If you’re traveling from point A to point B, you’re never going to get to point B unless you leave point A. It requires just putting one small foot in front of the other.
Sometimes we get discouraged because our skill level isn’t where we want it to be. Or we wish we were further along in the journey. It dissuades us from ever getting up to bat.
We underestimate how important the start is. But you have to get past the initial friction in order to get going. Once you get going, you start to gain traction and will build off the momentum. The momentum keeps you going.
In order to get anywhere, you have to start. Start somewhere, anywhere!
All you have to do is pick somewhere small to start. You don’t have to start on something big. But if you pick something, you’ll start and gain the forward momentum.
If I never started those first few sentences about how much I didn’t want to write, I would never finish an article. Certainly, I would never build a habit. Then how would I accomplish anything?
Stop worrying about perfection and just get it all out onto paper. Just start and the rest will come.
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