You Have to Start Sometime

“However, don’t let perfectionism become an excuse for never getting started.”- marilu_henner

“I’m not starting my diet until I can workout consistently, and I can’t start working out yet because I can only make it two times this week.” 

Have you ever rationalized not getting started before? Or maybe you keep telling yourself you will get started Monday, after the Holidays or better yet when you can save up enough money to make the jump.

Does this sound like something you would say? I know it looks like me.

As humans, we often live in black or white and fear the less glamorous but often more productive shades of gray that exist in reality. We believe that one day, the clouds will shift and the sun will light up a guaranteed path to success. That all our hurdles, obligations and real-life stress will dissolve into the ether, and all that will be left is the perfect time to start.

Unfortunately, none of that is true. There will never be a perfect time to start. You are always going to have to deal with stress and the banal realities of everyday life. You probably are not going to be able to follow your diet 100% of the time; you are going to miss workouts, and there are going to be weeks where the most massive thing you lift is your responsibilities as an employee, parent or human.

I’m here to tell you none of that matters. The only thing that does, in any real sense matter is that you get started. That means to get started now, where you are, with no hesitation, excuses or pretenses. No tomorrows, procrastination or only ifs.  Take one small step as soon as possible. Maybe that is a workout in your garage or changing what you eat for breakfast this week. Maybe that means signing up for a consultation at a gym or walking around your block. The magnitude of the first step is irrelevant, the action of the first step itself is everything. 

Stop being paralyzed by the grandiose, and master the minutia. Stop seeking perfection and seek action. Stop pretending that there is a magical moment when everything will be more comfortable, it’s never coming. Start moving, start with a step, then a jog and before you know it, you will be sprinting headfirst towards the things you so desperately want and all you have to do is get started.