Have the Courage to Begin

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in thinking that 2022 has been flying by at lightning speed. How we are already in early April is beyond me. The past few months at my day job have been exciting and rewarding, full of interesting projects and new opportunities, but it has also been hectic and stressful. I found myself in need of a vacation, wanting nothing more than a bit of time to rest and relax. As much as I would have loved to travel home to the northeast to visit my family, I decided to take a staycation instead, thinking that what I really needed was to tackle the growing To Do list for my small business.

I had been looking forward to some time off for several weeks, and I was really committed to being as productive as possible. To set myself up for success, I made sure to complete all of my chores and even created a detailed To Do list the weekend before my staycation, with the plan of eliminating all potential distractions and excuses for any lack of productivity. I rose early last Monday morning, wanting to get a head start on the week, and maybe even cross a few big items off my list before lunch. But as I sat and ate my breakfast, I found myself feeling anything but energized and enthusiastic. Instead, I felt somewhat lost and almost paralyzed by indecision. I had no idea where to start. I looked around my home, hoping to find a distraction – perhaps a dirty dish to wash or a load of laundry to fold – but found none. I even considered logging in to work (we are still working from home), thinking that maybe I should just cancel my staycation and get back to work instead. I reminded myself that I had already done a great deal of planning and preparation – things I’m not always great at doing in advance – in the hopes that my little pep talk would kickstart my activities for the day. But nothing worked. Even my detailed To Do list, organized neatly according to topic and priority, provided neither guidance nor solace. As I began to worry that my whole week would be lost to inactivity, I thankfully remembered a simple but powerful quote someone told me many years before.

Back in 2013, I had recently joined a new team at work. We were a team of two, comprised of a friend of mine and myself. Between the two of us, we only had about seven years of combined experience with the company. The team was brand new, and we were tasked with handling all of the activities that were required to start the project. Normally the teams were much larger, and there were almost always more experienced people in the mix. Thankfully, we didn’t let our relative inexperience dampen our spirits as we diligently worked to prepare our presentation for the panel of technical reviewers, all of whom could be quite harsh. After our presentation, which we augmented with carefully constructed accompanying materials, we waited patiently for comments and questions from the reviewers. At first, no one said a word. Finally, after what felt like an hour, but was likely closer to five seconds, the lead reviewer spoke. With his hands in the air and excitement in his voice, he said simply “You had the courage to begin.”

From his additional comments, and those of the other reviewers, it was clear we still had a lot of work to do on that project, but by having prepared something, we had something to discuss that day. We ended up having a very productive session with the reviewers, and most importantly, we left with a detailed plan of what we needed to accomplish next. And it was all because we had the courage to begin.

I have thought of the reviewer’s comment many times over the years, and each time I reflected on why I struggled to begin something, I would realize that my lack of action always came down to one thing: perfectionism. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to do something perfectly, so I then spent way too much time doing something, anything, else instead. By procrastinating so long, I ended up rushing at the end to complete whatever was the task at hand. It was as if telling myself “I could have done better if I had more time” would somehow make me feel better about the final result, but it never did.

I have been working very hard to overcome (or at least tame) my perfectionism as well as my procrastination habits, and it is definitely a journey. As my sweet brother likes to say “Don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good enough.” The reviewer’s comment has been a welcome and appropriate mantra for so many areas of my life over the years – from starting additional projects at work, to adopting a healthier lifestyle, to even creating my small business and blog – and I’m thankful to have remembered it again last week. I ended up having a wonderfully productive (and relaxing) staycation, and I’m thankful to have received such thoughtful guidance over the years.

I hope this story gives you a bit of encouragement and inspiration to have the courage to begin … whatever is on your To Do list. And I’d love to know, what mantra do you use to help kickstart your activities when you are struggling?

xo, Tiffany