Just Get Started!

Hello from Oslo! 

I arrived this morning and enjoyed a lazy Sunday exploring the downtown core and taking pictures of the Royal Palace (and awesome random graffiti).  As I write from this pleasant city tonight, I am going to share with you a simple tip to start September on a strong note and help you finish out the last four months of 2013 with a bang!

Taking a 17hr ferry last night from Copenhagen to Oslo, I realized one thing the minute I walked into my cabin.  This is all I really need.  Yes, it was tiny and cramped and not the Four Seasons – but it’s all I needed, and I liked it.  Most of us live pretty darn well – we have all the basics covered.  And still complain about bullshit that noboby wants to hear.  Excuse after excuse about why we can’t do something.  Stop doing that.  It’s annoying. 

Now onto the goods.  When I began to embark on a new venture in early 2013 I found myself overthinking everything.  Every obstacle, cost, question.  You name it, I found a way to overanalyze and stop myself dead in my tracks.

So here’s the tip to kickstart September and the last quarter of 2013:

JUST GET STARTED.

You have what you need right now to succeed.  Don’t have the info?  Read a book.  Don’t have a mentor?  Ask someone.  Don’t have the skill?  Practice, practice, practice.   The funny thing about us humans is that we are the only creatures with the luxury of CHOICE.  You are not going to die if you don’t read that book…and so you procrastinate until it’s been so long that you completely give up.

JUST GET STARTED.  When you don’t think about it and just pick up that book/dumbell/project something happens.  You realize that you have the power.  Trying to lose weight this fall?  Just start walking…just grab your gear and hit the gym.  Challenged at work?  Don’t avoid it, tackle it head on.  Start the process and the solution will come.  Small steps add up.  Allowing ourselves to be stuck at a mental roadblock is no one else’s fault but our own.

The magic is in forging on.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”   Mark Twain

What are you going to do differently this September?

Ian