I read that the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, and the second best time is today. There’s just no going back, so dive in there with whatever you’ve got. Do the thing half-assed as long as you have to if that’s what it takes. If we wait until we are great to get started, it may not happen at all.
I make my living as a mental health counselor, and one of the ideas I talk about with people is Zero to One. That’s the big gap, the million miles from nothing to something. One to two, two to three and so on, those are steps in a direction, maintaining motion.
Have you ever tried to push a car? The kind of cars I drive, it comes up. I’ve found that the hardest part is going from a dead standstill (zero) to that first inch forward (one). Once you are rolling it is easier to keep rolling.
Don’t want to brush your teeth? Maybe Zero to One it by getting off the couch (zero) to walking in the bathroom (one) and see what happens. Then just lather up the old toothbrush and see where that gets you. Is the vision of being an author keeping you from filling up a page? Learn to live with the rough draft, and don’t expect The Thing to spring forth fully formed. Want to meditate? Try having your coffee with no screen, no music, no input, just you. Those five quiet minutes may be the beginning of something.
It’s easy to get so dazzled by the mountaintop we wind up living our lives at the trailhead. Start where you are, do a little something.
Just start!