The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. -Lao Tzu
Confession.
I often hate when people just throw around “inspirational” quotes. The scroll hits warp speed when I see a pouty lipped picture with a caption from Confucius.
It’s not that I don’t like them or don’t find them with merit. Proverbs are proverbs for a reason. Most are condensed forms of deep wisdom. Some are just corny…but that’s not the point. What really grinds my gears is when they are casually thrown around. Just words to the ether.
Take the one at the top for example. You’ve heard it before in some shape or form. It can be taken to say that great things can come from humble beginnings. I take it as saying…
GO!! What the #@$%& are you waiting for?!?!
No matter the task, issue, or project size, there is always a beginning.
Just start.
Now I’m not suggesting you start anything without a plan. Prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance. I firmly believe that. Write the business plan. Take classes. Prepare. Just be wary of “stagnation by preparation.”
Trust me. I’m talking to myself also. I’ve been working on this site for over a year trying to get it “perfect.” I woke up one day and had one of those cartoon light bulb moments. If I was waiting on some magic internet perfection fairy to come bless my website before launch, I was either afraid or on mushrooms.
So, I hit publish.
We outchea now!!
Flaws, mistakes and all.
And it’s OK. I’ll fix them. I’ll learn. I’ll grow. But I would have nothing to learn, fix or grow into if I didn’t start. I wouldn’t have been on Master Chef if I hadn’t started the process of moving to California. I planned it for YEARS! Waiting for just the right moment. Well, the right moment was when I bought the plane ticket and forced myself to get ready to move.
It isn’t easy. Any number of things hold us back. Tradition, fear, eternal preparation.
Fear is a tricky one though. I’ve always been a fan of fear. Big Rube of Outkast fame once said, “Fear is a gift from God to be used for self-preservation.” And it is. Fear makes you aware. Fear should bring about some action. To conquer fear, you must recognize it and act anyway. In this case, the fear is mostly of failure.
So, let’s explore that.
We’ve all heard tons of success stories with setbacks and tribulations. They all have common themes. “If I can do it, so can you.” “Don’t let anything stop you.” “Never give up.” “The road to success is paved with failures.”
So on. So forth.
One person may look at these stories and be discouraged by the daunting tasks these individuals endured.
I see it like this.
If there is no success without failure, then failure is inherently part of the formula for success.
With this philosophy in hand, finding the courage and strength to venture into new experiences eventually becomes more effortless.
With this philosophy in hand, it’s easier to handle failure.
Take this blunder, for example…lol
In these scenarios, we have the power of choice to see temporary defeat or allow it to motivate us to keep going.
Now having said all that. The discipline to take that starting momentum and keep it rolling is an entirely different post. I’m not neglecting the difficulty in that. At all! The first step is the catalyst for change. Discipline is the fuel to keep it going. And don’t take this as an excuse to go off half-cocked, ditching things left and right. Responsibility is sexy, ya know?
I’ll probably go deeper into my love of failure, complicated relationship with discipline and fascination with fear in later posts.
Right now…I just want you to start something. Until then, I leave you with this.
Get up, get out and get something. – Cee-Lo Green
In full transparency, I believe I landed here after searching for “seed cycling” but stayed to explore because of this post. Also in all honesty, I have a rather simple palate and couldn’t identify a shallot to save my life, I’ve never seen one episode of Master Chef and didn’t even have cable or a streaming service until this pandemic. (Not sorry). Some days I want to be vegan and others I want to eat all the food. But this. The frankness and undertone of sarcasm had me laughing out loud and nodding in agreement, as if we were across the table from one another engaging in a two-way discussion. I eagerly clicked around looking for more, only to find…nothing. Where are the stories of failure and your complicated relationship with discipline?! And then I purchased your e-book on medicinal herbs. So it goes.