Why Getting Started is the Hardest Part

Eighty percent of success is showing up. — Woody Allen

Whether it’s a workout, cooking dinner, or a big work task, getting started is often the hardest part of any endeavor.

This truth is repeated so often that it has become cliché. And while it may provide some comfort when you’re stagnating, it doesn’t actually help you start.

More useful is to understand why getting started is the hardest part.

There are many reasons — including inertia, uncertainty, lack of clarity, and fear.

But the biggest one, by far, is that we often over-complicate things.

For many years, I struggled to develop a consistent meditation practice. Sometimes I would look at all the time I spent delaying and puttering before sitting down to meditate, and realize that I could have been in practice all of that time.

What was I even doing?

I was trying to find the “right” (ok, perfect) set-up. A place of quiet where I wouldn’t be disturbed. A comfortable place to sit. The best app. All the things.

On December 30, 2015, I was stretching after finishing my workout, and I had an epiphany: why not just do it here?

There were many reasons why the middle of the gym not suited to a meditation practice. It was noisy. People were walking around, talking, and clanging weights. It could be unsettling.

But it was also where I was. And if I could make time to stretch there, then certainly I could take some of that stretching time and turn it into a meditation practice.

That marked the start what has now become a 10-year daily meditation practice.

I soon realized that all the reasons that made the gym an “awkward” spot for my practice actually made it the perfect spot. Real life rarely gives us ideal conditions of quiet. Indeed, one purpose of a meditation practice is to cultivate inner stillness and calm when chaos reigns around you. What better place to practice than in “real world” conditions?

Some days my practice is 10 minutes, and other days it’s 2 minutes. What’s important is that I don’t let the logistics or over complications get in the way.

Beyond the Mat

This principle applies to everything. Workouts. My daily blog. Work.

What I have found — with my own practices and with my clients — is that the biggest thing that gets in the way of our starting something is often that we make the thing bigger or more complicated than it needs to be.

• We have too many conditions for it.
• We need too many tools or apps.
• The plan feels too big or complicated for the time or energy we have available.

The more things that you need to have in place to do something, the less likely you will be to start it and do it.

Whenever I find myself puttering for too long or procrastinating on an important task, I consider how I can simplify it.

Many people are surprised to learn that I write and publish most of my essays on my iPad; for a few years I published mostly from my phone.

If you’re feeling stuck in getting started, ask yourself:

What can I do where I am and with what I have right now?

It’s probably a lot more than you think.