It’s time for me to make another running analogy.
Most of the time, my biggest threat is simply inertia (also known as The Resistance).
This seems like so much work. I’ve never done this before. How am I possibly going to do this?
One of the ways I push myself through this is to create a different, smaller goal that sort of guarantees success of the larger goal.
For example, when I run longer distances (6+ miles, which is still a long distance for me) I have a hard time believing that I’m going to be able to get that done. But I’ve come up with a full-proof way of doing that: by running 3+ miles in one direction (note: does not work on treadmills).
It’s much easier for me to push myself to run 3+ miles; I’ve done that a ton of times. And by making that the goal, knowing I’m going to run that in one direction, I can accomplish that pretty easily. But once I’ve gotten 3+ miles away from my starting point, there’s really only one way back…and that’s to run 3+ miles in the opposite direction.
That second leg usually sucks. But it sucks less than I imagined running 6+ miles sucks. And I have to take breaks to walk, but I cover that whole distance.
The same is true of larger projects. If I just start knocking dominoes down, they keep falling until the whole thing is done. Or sometimes I’ll start telling people that I’m going to do something, at which point I force myself to actually do it or put trust in me at risk (which I refuse to do).
If you’re stuck and having a hard time getting started, try working towards the point of no return instead of the final destination.