How to “Just Get Started”
Whether it is a fitness goal, a challenge you are working to overcome, or even a not-so-exciting household project, getting started is often the hardest part.
As far as I am concerned, there are two “not-so-secret ingredients” to be blended together to get us moving.
1) Make taking the next step toward your goal as easy as possible.
2) Stop talking yourself out of getting started.
How do we make these come to life? Let’s look at them, one at a time
1) To make the next step easy, don’t focus on the end goal just yet. You’ll need to know what the end goal is, but don’t let that be the focus right now.
For example, if you want to be able to walk 5K, but you don’t yet walk very far, 5K can feel daunting and maybe close to impossible. So, put that in your back pocket, knowing that 5K is the goal, BUT not top of mind right now.
NOW focus on the next step. What do you need to get started? Finding your shoes? Mapping a route? Choosing a time of day? Make today’s goal answering one of those questions. And tomorrow’s goal? Answer another of those questions.
See, start small and easy. This way, you start to build momentum and confidence.
2) As for this one, “stop talking yourself out of getting started”, this takes a good amount of self-awareness. Self-awareness is key for any kind of change and growth. Getting started needs a pinch of “just-do-it”, (if we’re staying with the ingredient analogy from above). That is, we all make excuses when we are feeling less than confident about something or when we are unmotivated.
What I have found works here? Every time you make an excuse that stops you from getting started, write it down. Once we realize that part of this difficulty in getting started is us getting in our own way, we actually start to get tired of our excuses. Add that with a “sprinkle” of making the next step easy, you will be on your way to your goal in no time!
Cheering you on and as always, if you need a coach in your corner, don’t hesitate to reach out: deanna@deannalangfordcoaching.com
Deanna