Just start...
This is an essay about how to achieve more in any area of life – it will be especially helpful if you have some creative, entrepreneurial, or personal improvement endeavor.
Just start.
A story…
I was texting back and forth with my girlfriend and she told me that her little sisters have been asking her for help to read the children’s bible every night after dinner. They’re in the first part of the Old Testament which is pretty intense and hard to explain to 6-year-olds. She told me it’s been so interesting and she loves the challenge of it (she is also a religious studies major trying to figure out her career).
So, I said that’s great. Why don’t you do that for more people?
She said she gets much enjoyment from explaining different aspects of religion to people who are confused or uninformed – like not even in a way of trying to convert them or just like trying to help them live better. She said that’s the sort of work that really sets her heart on fire…
So that one gets to me. I say hey can I be hard on you for a second…
Me:
Then do it.
What the f**k?
You have something that sets your heart on fire – start.
But I don’t know exactly what to do – start.
But how do I – start.
What would I talk about or who do I talk to – start.
Just start.
Her:
You’re right. I keep talking myself out of what I feel called to do and I’ve been doing that since I first felt it in high school. I’m scared because it’s not going to be as easy as the plans I’ve made for myself… But I think deep down I know it’s what I want to do and I’m just afraid to start.
Me:
Unsure – start.
Not sure you’re qualified – start.
Feel you have no idea what the hell you’re doing and will probably suck initially – start.
The antidote to ambiguity is action – start.
So that brings me back to my original point – just start.
Please note this isn’t about religion or God specifically — it’s the principle. What are you called to? What do you feel sets you on fire but you’re not sure of?
The truth is you’re probably not qualified, you’re probably not ready… And who gives a sh*t?
I remember one of my favorite professors – William Murray – gave a brilliant description of this my freshman year. As a kid and even a young adult you sort of look around and imagine that everyone is qualified. Everyone knows how to do what they are doing. Teachers know how to be teachers. Police officers know how to be police officers, etc. And then you get older and start to do whatever you are doing and realize – oh crap they’ve all been faking it!
When you start as a professor you don’t know “how to be a professor”. When you start as a head accountant or whatever you don’t know how to be head accountant. Now sure, you have an idea of it – but how could you know how? You’ve never done it!
I’m told this is most true in parenting.
Every parent is just jumping into this experiment of becoming a parent by parenting.
Can you be qualified to be a parent? Short of being the world’s leading developmental psychologist, nutrition expert, educator, and Zen master how the hell could you possibly be qualified to raise another human from scratch?
When it comes to most big things in life: creative works, business works, personal passions, and callings — no one is qualified. But everyone thinks they need to be qualified to start. So they never start and thus remain unqualified.
It’s sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy that keeps people from realizing their potential.
And I’m not just talking about “big things” like being the next Picasso or Jeff Bezos. The amount of people I know who say they want to try meditation to be more present or start exercising because it’s good but are all wishy washy and unsure is ridiculous.
Just freaking sit there (RE instructions for meditation). Just freaking do something other than sit there (RE instructions for exercise). Just start.
Or – and this is very high level – google how to do xyz, read it, then just start.
So, whether it is a big thing or small thing I’m convinced that the secret recipe for happiness and achievement is just start – or the “action bias”.
When in doubt, act. When in doubt about something big and scary and complex, learn a little bit from someone who has done it, then act. If I didn’t include that qualification I would be giving impractical advice. It is certainly much better to read a few posts on weightlifting or find a mentor who ran a trucking company before you start working out or take out a million-dollar loan to start a trucking company.
There’s a final wrinkle to understanding this – I said earlier action is the antidote to ambiguity and I want to explain why.
Often you need to accumulate more information by moving in a certain direction before the information you need becomes available. Think about this in the physical world. Let’s say I’m in Scottsdale, AZ and I want to go back to the best place in the world: Pittsburgh, PA,
I am without a GPS or map. I am racing against my friend who doesn’t have a GPS or map either.
We say go.
One strategy is to sit there and think – what the heck do I do now? You sit there for a while and you try to sketch out a map of the US and how to get there (this is the equivalent of early stage business projections, which are useless). You try and write up your route, plan the best you can, and maybe you even talk to some people about where you need to go, and then you start.
Now several hours ago your friend did the following. He said okay I need to head Northeast. And he ripped out of there at 120 mph. He has been cruising east for 5 hours so he is now 500+ miles ahead of you. Eventually he gets to Texas and sees signs for a route going north and thinks okay probably ought to head north for a while.
Then he see signs referencing Ohio – that’s a good sign. He then sees signs for PA – almost there. Then signs for Pittsburgh. You are in Oklahoma at this point following your meticulously crafted plan.
My point is moving in a certain direction (action) by allows for the possibility of taking in new information. By moving in a certain direction it reveals more information that was hidden beyond the horizon.
Here is a personal example…
I knew I wanted to study and teach happiness. So, I thought okay how can one make money doing that? I googled around and learned that speaking is an actual profession. Then I found a professional speaker and said hey let’s talk (he is my now friend and business partner). I learned how he did things. And I learned a specific marketing system complete with high tech email tools and a virtual assistant to get speaking events. This is now a part of my full-time profession like a year later.
If I wouldn’t have just started when my thing was “how do I make money with happiness?” I never would have gotten to the very specific mechanism of how to run a happiness focused speaking and training business.
If you don’t start writing the outline of your book, the first draft won’t come, and so the final draft won’t come. If you don’t start working out you won't learn how to workout. If you don’t start the business you won’t get a business.
If you don’t know where to start the answer is starting! (and again, as you do this find someone who has done it before and model them as this is most efficient).
To recap this essay on happiness and achievement, just start.
If you don’t know where to start – start.
If you don’t know how to start – you start by starting.
If you don’t know when to start – start now.
And if you don’t feel ready to start that’s fine – you’ll feel ready to start once you’ve started.
Wishing you happiness and success,
Jackson K