Quote on Starting Where You Are With What You Have—Even With Fear, Pain, and Doubt.

“Start now. Start where you are. Start with fear. Start with pain. Start with doubt. Start with hands shaking. Start with voice trembling, but start. Start and don’t stop. Start where you are, with what you have. Just… Start.”

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Beyond the Quote (292/365)

What makes you think starting later is going to be any better than starting now? What makes you think the fear or pain or doubt or trembling won’t be there later just as much (if not more) than it is now? What makes you think starting is ever going to be easier? How about we call your desire to do later that which you could do now what it actually is: procrastination.

Let’s face it, you’re not waiting to start later because you’ll “be more ready”—you’re procrastinating. You don’t feel like it because of all of the above listed reasons, so you don’t do it. You wait. And you carry on doing the same things you were doing before until the thought arises again—should I start?

But, by the time you have that thought you probably think about how much further ahead you could’ve been if you had started before. And thinking about how much progress you could’ve already made, of course, doesn’t help. It simply demoralizes you and makes you want to rot on the couch and wallow in self-pity (or is that just me?). Which, of course, begets more of the same procrastination. And so it goes.

Procrastinating. Procrastinating. Procrastinating. Delaying. Delaying. Delaying. And the more it continues, the more stuck you feel. It’s a negative momentum cycle that becomes harder and harder to break. A body at rest tends to stay at rest, eh? Until you suck it up and just freakin’ break through already. How you ask? …C’mon, haven’t you been following?

By starting—that’s how! By starting without having your head completely straight. By starting without knowing exactly what the heck you’re doing. By starting without having all of the answers answered. By starting before you’re 100% ready. By starting when you’re scared almost to the point of immobilization. That’s how. And when you do, THAT’S when the negative momentum cycle is broken. And THAT’S how you start the momentum cycle on a positive upward loop instead. And so it will go.

And here’s the thing about starting that most people tend to overlook. Starting IS the break in routine that will get you better. What do I mean? When you procrastinate doing something of interest/ importance to you—a big reason is because you don’t feel ready/ worthy/ brave enough. So, as we outlined above, you decide to wait until you’re more prepared, more charismatic, more brave, etc., right? But, how better to get prepared than through trial and error? How better to build charisma than by getting in front of people and speaking? How better to build bravery than by exercising courage? How better to get education specific to your venture than by learning as you do?

You see, what often gets overlooked is that procrastination is a decision to opt out of doing what’s uncomfortable so that you can continue doing what’s normal/ usual/ and comfortable. And that is NOT going to get you any more prepared, charismatic, educated, or brave in the future. The bottom line is, if you keep on doing what you’ve been doing you’re going to keep on getting what you’ve been getting. Procrastination isn’t a vow to better yourself for the future—it’s the opposite of that. Starting is the vow that you’re going to better yourself as you move into the future.

In fact, it’s assured because the act of starting is, well, an action. And action is the only real way to change. Procrastination is but a string of empty words that fake you out into thinking that things will be different, when really, you’re just making yourself temporarily feel better so that you can keep things exactly the same. So, let’s try this again. Why haven’t you started yet? You’re scared? You’re in pain? You have doubts? You’re a nervous wreck at the thought? Good. Start anyway. It will get better once you do.

In a Tweet:

Start with fear.
Start before you’re ready.
Start before you have all of the answers.
Start before your head is completely straight.
Start before you know exactly what you’re doing.
Start when your hands are shaking and voice is trembling.

Just, start.

— Matthew Hogan (@MattHogan123) October 22, 2020

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