AOK Today #36 - Just START

AOK Today: Act on a new idea, or advance/restart an existing one.

“If we think any finish other than the one that we planned is failure...that pausing or stopping is failure...[that] we don't have enough to take our idea all the way to a grand finish...Those voices don't make us finish more. They just make us start less." - Becky Blades

How It Works: In the exciting, complex, and uncertain world we live in, we need to enliven as many ideas, contributions, and solutions as we can to protect and lift our precious home. In her book, Start more than you can finish, Becky Blades explains that the way we view the finish can keep us from starting; that many ideas are halted before they see the light of day. A grand finish can feel overwhelming, and scary to start. A perfect finish in mind can send us into paralysis. If you spend a moment to really think about projects that you've completed, how often is the result exactly how you imagined it to be upon starting? Personally I can't say that it ever has been. "The finish changes the minute we first take action." To combat the finish fallacy, Becky shares that starting is a skills and a muscle with 4 steps (below) and gives a simple top tip - when all else isn't working, count down from 5 and just start.

1. Imagine - a future state

2. Think - about what it will take to make it real (what it will cost us and give us)

3. Decide - to move the creation forward

4. Act - to move the idea from our imagination into the world where other people can see it

Cost: Free!

Why I love it: This advice has helped me start, and re-start, countless projects. It is liberating, inspiring, generating and extremely practical! The world needs our ideas to come to life. Remember "not finished is not failure"

Happy Giving |XOX|