Just Begin!

“He has the deed half done who has made a beginning.” Horace, the Roman poet

If you’re like most of us, you get a great idea and then the flood of thoughts, details, worries, and follow-up ideas crash into your mind. You’re thinking of all the things you’ll have to do to make the dream come true.

In fact, it might not be a dream. It might be something as mundane as straightening up a room, garage, your car, your files.

And you hesitate, you stop. We all do it. Heck, I teach this stuff and, sometimes, I do it.

So, you certainly have my permission to not beat yourself up about that feeling of standing still and wiping your face with your hand and thinking, “Whew! This is going to take a while.”

Maybe it will. Maybe ALL of it will take a while.

But, you know what won't take a while? One step. One small gesture in the direction of succeeding.

I work in a room at home that is a combo office/guest room. So, in addition to my desk and work materials, there’s a bed, a dresser, a couple of book cases loaded with books, a couple of pieces of artwork, two BIG plants, a big footstool, and a good-sized table beside the bed. And, it doesn’t always look like a photo in Southern Living magazine.

Two days ago, I washed a ton of clothes. When I pulled them out of the dryer (3 loads), I tossed them on the bed with the intention of folding them and putting them away.

That was two days ago. HEY! I got busy, ok?

But, every time I walked into the room I saw that pile of clothes on the bed and felt bad about not getting after it; folding and putting it all away.

This morning before breakfast, when I walked into the room, I picked up one shirt, quickly folded it, put it away, and walked out and had breakfast.

After breakfast, I looked at the clock (8:43 am) and thought, “I need to start writing my blog at 9,” and I walked back into the room and started folding and putting away. I was done by 8:57 am.

Now, I could beat myself up with, “See, Mr. Perfect Workday, you could have done this two days ago and you’d have proven to all your folks that you’re … well … Mr. Perfect Workday.”

But, I didn’t. I congratulated myself on getting it done, turned on some tunes to get me started on this blog, and rolled on.

One thing. Do it now.