When You Don’t Know How to Start, Start.

A repost from a post I wrote for Medium a few months ago.

When You Don’t Know How to Start, Start.

I arrived at my office today with one simple goal, to write my first blog post on Medium. I couldn’t pick a topic until I realized something crucial:

I wanted to talk about starting, the mental and physical act of putting an idea into motion.

My goal to write today didn’t originate from a desire to talk about a specific topic. It came from a simple desire, to begin a practice of writing consistently. So I thought about what I should write. What would be a good topic for a first article?
Should I write about a topic related to the logistics industry? After all, I did start a delivery company. Should I talk about the various failed ventures I’ve had over the past few years? I’ve started a few of those. Should I talk about some of the great companies that have been started recently?

These thoughts had one common thread. They were all started at one point.

Being Perfect is not a Prerequisite to Starting

I came to the quick realization that nothing has been accomplished without a first step. If we could remember our first steps as toddlers, we would remember stumbling around and struggling to comprehend what we were doing, but before long we were running easily, competing with the other kids on the playground.

This is the same with any pursuit we take today. That first step might not be perfect. It won’t be.

The difference between being a baby and being an adult is that we started caring about what people think of us.
Why do you have to look good on your first step? Why can’t you stumble around a bit? Let me tell you that you can. Be bold.
Start doing something, and be confident about not being good at it at first.

Starting Turns into Doing

Don’t be content with just starting. Give yourself a small congratulation and move on. It’s time to do. This is a call to action for you and me. For you, start that idea you’re thinking about, and take steps to explore it. Be consistent and see what happens.
Consistency will increase the length of your stride and your pace will increase.

Even this short experiment on writing has given me some energy and excitement about what else I can try to share. I have new ideas that I didn’t come close to thinking of before I started writing today.

Act on your desire by making that first step, and start making many more first steps towards your goal. Treat every necessary action as another first step. Overcome that mental hurdle day after day, and you will build momentum.

Doing Can Lead to Success

Don’t think that starting something means you have guaranteed success for your vision. That is not the case. Every failed endeavor can be traced to a first step when someone started.

The good news is, that you still can succeed. There is no law or limit on how many failures or starts you can have. Only you can limit that. Don’t let other people’s opinion or negativity stop you from acting on what you’re passionate about. Be confident.

Start something.