Why waiting to begin is harder than taking the jump

It’s harder to wait. Jumping in and figuring it out as you go is easier than waiting.

Here’s why.

When you're waiting, you're:

1. Emotionally, physically, and mentally done with your current work.

You pretend to care when you don’t. Motivating yourself to perform at work is a constant struggle. Forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do is exhausting.

2. Pretending to care about things you don't care about.

When your boss asks about a project, you pretend to care. When your coworker complains about a new policy, you pretend to care. Pretending to care about something you don’t care about is… also exhausting.

3. You daydream, a lot.

A low value cycle depletes your energy, erodes your confidence, and leaves you worse off than where you started.

In the small windows of time when you’re not exhausted, you imagine yourself finally starting the program or launching your business. This daydream only confirms that you’re in the wrong place and it’s time to get out.

4. Unfortunately, your mind is constantly selling you on why you can’t do what you really want to do.

You’re not ready, you’re not good enough, your writing/art/program isn’t good enough, you need more training (which you can’t afford), you have small kids and can’t risk losing the financial security, etc. This is extraordinarily exhausting.

5. And then you judge yourself.

You compare yourself to people on the internet already doing the thing you want to do. You tell yourself you should just be grateful for what you have.

And the cycle repeats.

This is a low value cycle.

Every step depletes your energy, erodes your confidence, and leaves you worse off than where you started.

It’s easier to jump in and figure it out. This is what would actually happen if you went for it:

1. You'd decide to start.

You wouldn't just think about starting, you'd decide. You'd be willing to be a sloppy beginner. This decision will make you feel like you could lift a car off the ground because you’ve suddenly consumed 20 shots of espresso.

2. Your mind would give you all of the reasons why you shouldn’t.

This will always happen.

3. You'd feel your feelings and redirect your mind toward more useful thoughts.

Every time you do this, you become better at it.

4. You'd take significant action.

Significant action does not mean planning and strategizing. Significant action are things you would do that would actually create the result you want to create. Planning a program doesn't create a program. Setting a date and telling people about it does.

5. You'd get your first win.

Because you are taking significant action, people will know about your work. That means you'll land your first client, sell your first piece of art, or have a conversation with someone who loved your poem. There aren't words to describe the feeling of the first win.

This is a high value cycle: it creates the outcome you want and leaves you better off than where you started.

Your mind will tell you that it is harder to do the thing than it is to wait. Don’t listen to it. Waiting is the hardest thing you could do. Waiting is exhausting. Waiting slowly drains your self-confidence and belief that you will actually do the thing you want to do.

Waiting is the hardest thing you could do.

Identify your low value cycle. Get specific. And then go do the thing.