31 Days 2 Get You Started! January 26: Do 1 (Small) Thing Today That Scares You!

31 Days 2 Get You Started! January 26: Do 1 (Small) Thing Today That Scares You!

January 26, 2014 Uncategorized 0

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand.  It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.  You rarely win, but sometimes you do.”- To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee

If you’re thinking about making a significant change in your life, the type of change that even as you desperately desire it, you’re terrified…take a deep breath. Stop hyperventilating into that paper bag and remember that changing your life takes a minute or two. It doesn’t happen overnight. You create the life you’re looking for and you, eventually, create the changes as you’re ready to accept them. But to do that, you have to get started today, before you’re ready. You have to start with one small step today.

So, let’s say you want to write a book. Instead of getting hung up thinking, “Well, how am I going to get it published? I mean, everyone says the publishing industry is in free-fall! And does that mean I have to self-publish, and how would I even do that, and isn’t that super expensive, I don’t have any money! And who’s going to read my book, and how do I get it edited but oh my god, so much shitty books out there, I totally could write something better. But would anyone even read it, and could I really be an author? Me??” Whoa, mama. Instead of letting those frenzied brain chemicals cause you to decide, miserably, that it’s easier to stay unwritten and unfulfilled, you could simply say, “Yes. There’s a lot that I’m unsure of, but I am sure of the story inside of me. And I’m going to sit down and write for an hour every day. Beyond that, I can’t know what will happen, so let me just focus on what I do know. Writing makes me happy. I’m going to commit to that.”

After all the alternative, staying unwritten and unpublished, means a lifetime of reading inferior books by hacks and realizing, wow even this schmuck had to balls to follow his/her heart…while you made excuses. How is that “easier?” Discuss.

The person who gets this, and starts writing and stops worrying about all the details is the person who eventually, maybe in a six months or a year or even 5 years, will eventually have a published book. And that book, whether it sells one copy or one million copies, will give that person the confidence to realize that they are stronger, smarter and more capable than they know. And that first book will lead to experiences that today might seem unbelievable.

On the other hand, the person who allows themselves to be derailed by all the potential problems, and who therefore doesn’t write, or writes half a book, and then gives up, or writes a book, self-publishes it and when the book isn’t the next Twilight, gives up…well, that person has really committed to their pain. That’s the person who tries something new every six weeks and then tells you, “I don’t know why nothing sticks. I mean, if it was my fault, you know I’d take responsibility, but it’s not my fault.” Oh.

Therefore, whatever it is you’re yearning for, you’re going to have to start creating it one small step at a time. If you want to write a book, how about you commit to writing one paragraph a day? You don’t know how to write a book, but you can write a paragraph. Write enough paragraphs and you have a page; write enough pages and whoa, did you just write a chapter of your book? Hmm, despite all of your self-defeating blather, I guess you do know how to write a book after all! Maybe this is the time you’ll realize you do know what the hell you’re doing, and you’ll get out of your own way, and let yourself live happily ever after.  Maybe.

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