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Starting Something New?
How can we overcome procrastination and obstacles with ease?
I’m sure you’ll agree that starting something new can be daunting. When I decided to start writing for Medium and Substack, I took note of the worries and challenges that might hold me back; procrastination, perfectionism, self-doubt and more. It prompted me to write my first article about starting a new project, and the various feelings and thoughts that may arise during the process. If you are planning to make a fresh start with a project, whether it’s for work, education, self improvement or something entirely different, let’s see how you can take it from idea to action.
Starting something new? Photo by Bich Tran, pexels
1. Planning – What are You Trying to Achieve?
Picture yourself 6 months from now, having achieved your goal. What has changed and how has your life improved? It’s important to have a clear vision of your ideal life, whether it’s in your imagination or perhaps through a mood board of images that represent it. This will provide clarity and motivate you to succeed. Work out a timeline of how long it will take. Decide how much time you need to prepare, when you will expect results and set the date you will begin.
Checklist:
- Envision your desired outcome
- Set long-term goals
- Set short-term goals
- Get the things you need
- Write lists, instructions, a mind map
- Research, learning and reading
Image: This is engineering, Pexels
2. Create a Work Schedule for the Week
If you plan well and commit to the goals you set yourself, this should build motivation and make it easy for you to work hard on your project. Is this project exciting? If not, can you cultivate excitement and energy? Instead of worrying about whether you will fail or succeed, focus on the benefits of what you are about to achieve.
Create a realistic schedule to work out how much time on which days you will spend on the upcoming project. Do this in a way that is compatible with your life, responsibilities and commitments. Stay disciplined with this schedule to get some momentum. Practice good time management. Prioritize the most crucial tasks first, and break big tasks up into smaller steps to make them more approachable.
3. Recognize and Act Against Challenges
If you have something in mind to start, yet you haven’t begun, is there anything obvious holding you back? How can you overcome this? Many people find inspiration from other people, such as role models, peers and competitors. Try looking at what others are doing in this area relative to your chosen project. This can give you inspiration and motivation and a feeling that it is accessible to you, and your goals are within reach. This will build your confidence.
4. Step out of Your Comfort Zone
Are you ready to begin this brand-new project? You will probably know that doing so requires stepping out of your comfort zone into unfamiliar territory. This can create some resistance. Many of us love to stay in our comfort zone, keeping things as predictable as life allows, where we can cocoon ourselves in our repetitive routines. Breaking out of the cocoon can be difficult, but it’s a necessary step to transform your life and achieve your full potential.
Starting something fresh requires you to embrace change in your life. Accept some discomfort as you begin your upcoming project as it jolts you out of your comfort zone, so that you are fully awake.
5. Recognise the Procrastination
When you try to face up to starting something new you may say to yourself: “I don’t have time” or “I don’t know where to begin”. Procrastination, apprehension and self doubt can trip you up when you are taking the first steps. How do you overcome this?
Recognizing it is a significant turning point. Once you know why you are not taking the first step, you know you must push forward and force it to happen.
6. Do Not Listen to Your Critical Inner Voice
You know that inner voice or critic that narrates your actions and choices, the inner voice that casts doubt on new things? When you start something new, you may hear things like “it’s not working very well is it?”. The next thing you know, self doubt is putting the brakes on change. The negative internal critic in your mind loves everything to be the same, easy and predictable. Giving in to it keeps you from taking a chance, improving your life and becoming the best version of yourself. We all have to find ways to bypass this unhelpful doubting voice and tune into our true inner self.
Critical inner voice. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio, Pexels
7. Overcome Your Fear of Change
“The only constant in life is change. That truth presents us with countless new beginnings”
Heraclitus
In planning my new project, I realized my inner critic was stifling my positive thinking and planning. Once I noticed this was happening, I looked deeper into my mind to try to get to the inner self, a quiet space where the negative voice can be ignored completely.
Recognize any negative self-talk that you are experiencing. Know that, at the root of it, it is probably just a fear of change. With your logical conscious mind, you can accept new ideas without rejecting them on the basis of unfounded doubts. Stop listening to the inner critical voice. Now you can progress.
8. What Is, Is
Accept that things won’t be perfect. What is, is. Accept what you can’t change, recognize limitations and go with the flow. Acknowledge the fear of failure. Making mistakes is how we learn along the way. Instead of giving in, learn from your mistakes and keep striving for success. Get Positive and Excited About Your New Project!
9. Motivation
You will need bucketloads. Starting something new should hopefully spark some passion, enthusiasm and spontaneity. Try to channel your nervous energy into excitement and action. By setting goals and visualizing a better future in which these goals can be realized, it should feel right to take action. Setting goals that inspire and motivate you is an essential part of this. You can do this with your imagination and desire. You should be so motivated that you wake up early, energized and buzzing with motivation.
10. Momentum
When starting something new, be curious and inquisitive. Dive into your projects and get creative. Momentum should follow motivation and keep it alive. Feel the energy. Become so motivated that any interruptions to you doing your new thing are very irritating.
Starting Something New – How?
Just Start
If you have done the essential preparation and you can begin, begin! When I was working on this article, I blitzed through the preparation stage and then ground to a halt for 3 days. I was venturing into uncharted territory, and I suddenly felt uncertain. Perfectionism and fear of failure can hold us back from starting projects, as we can feel we aren’t ready and get stuck in planning purgatory. It is normal to feel like this. There is nothing negative about it. Just push past it and keep going.
Different is Good
Accept that you will make mistakes. You will learn a lot of things, meet interesting people, build confidence and become a better you. It requires an adjustment in your mindset, because you change when you begin a project. Your activities evolve, but also your thoughts and energy change too. You change your life, your goals and objectives. The map of your life adjusts to accommodate these ongoing activities, goals and plans. Starting something new helps you break out of the past rut and head into a new aspect of your life.
Photo: karolina Rabowska, Pexels Starting something new
Are You Ready?
This is just the start of a project for me. If you have been thinking of starting something new, who knows what positive things are in store for you? Trust in yourself. Why not start today? If I can do it, so can you!