1. Funcertaiziness

Happy Tuesday!

If you are a creative or striving person looking to make things or improve yourself personally and professionally you may be familiar with the paradox of starting.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu once wrote, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Similarly, Mark Twain is credited with a quote that goes, "The secret of getting ahead is getting started."

You've heard some version of these ideas before, right? Maybe from your grandma? Maybe on a fortune cookie? Who knows? But they're there, in the culture. We're taught to believe that starting is the hardest part and all you need to do is begin.

It's true that starting something new can be really hard. We all know what it's like to want to begin but don't out of fear, uncertainty, laziness or a blend of all three ... funcertaiziness. It's not a real word, but it is a real feeling.

The notion that all great things must begin somewhere, no matter how small or humble, is a powerful idea that propels us to take on new projects, learn new skills, meet new people and transform our lives.

At the same, however, we all have experienced starting something new and ambitious only to stop soon after. How many times have you started a project that you were super excited about, bought all the gear, signed up for classes, told your friends, i.e. got started ... only to abandon it in a few weeks or months.

This is the paradox.

First we feel the fear, uncertainty, or laziness. "What if I fail? What if I look stupid? What if it takes a long time? What if it's harder than I think? What will people say about me? How will it effect the way I see myself?"

Because we are creative and striving people, we ignore these thoughts and get going anyway. We forge ahead despite our hesitation, trying to believe hardest part is over, convincing ourselves we're going to conquer the world! We feel that initial rush of optimism and excitement and it feels amazing!

But after riding the high for a little while we find, as we always suspected, that we have to keep going. We are confronted with new, difficult obstacles. We realize that starting wasn't so bad after all. This next part, on the other hand, seems way harder.

And then we find that we're actually back where we started. Back at the beginning. Trying to convince ourselves to keep going. Trying to convince ourselves to start again.

I've started a lot of things in my life, finished a few, stuck with a few, and stopped many more. But lately after launching a new business, a new career, and several projects all at once I found myself reflecting on the emotional cycles involved in starting.

I've noticed that the hardest part is, and always has been, the "next part".

Hoping that things might get easier at a certain point, or being surprised when starting the next part feels just as hard as the last, is a good way to get discouraged.

I have always understood intuitively that most of my meaningful accomplishments were the result of consistent effort over a longer period of time. And throughout those periods the challenge was always continuing to show up and putting in the focused time and the effort.

In reality I'm always starting. Every morning, when I wake up, the next part is waiting.

Cheers,

Nick