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The tendency to put off difficult tasks that we don’t want to face is almost universal. And it turns out, the moment of starting a task is often so much harder than actually doing the task. Once we get started, there can be challenges (and we will want to switch to something else) … but if we can just start, then half the battle is already won. So getting good at starting something tough can be a powerful skill to master. Let’s talk about how to master it. What Gets in the Way & How to Shift It Why is it so hard to start? We feel uncertainty, fear, stress, overwhelm about the task. Or it makes us feel bad about ourselves, inadequate in some way. It’s like opening a box that you know is going to cause you pain — of course you’d put off opening the box! We want to protect ourselves from that kind of stress. We can force ourselves to touch the electric fence, but that can only last for so long. We only want to put ourselves through so much pain before we start to question why we’re making ourselves suffer. The opportunity is in finding a new way of seeing these tasks — instead of filled with overwhelm, stress and inadequacy … can we find a more powerful way of seeing the uncertainty of this task? Can it be an opportunity, an adventure, a playground, an expression of our art? Can it be a dance of joy, a powerful way to serve others with love? Find that for yourself. What is the opportunity of this task? What would make it meaningful and joyful? Connect to that before you start, and things will get easier. How to Start Once you’ve taken a look at how you’re viewing the task, and find a new way to view it … you’re ready to train yourself at starting! Here’s what I recommend: Appreciate this act of starting. It’s delicious and profound. How to Practice the Art of the Start An amazing way to practice this is to set yourself a challenge to do this once a day, 5 days a week, for a month. By doing it just once a day, you’ll relieve yourself of the pressure of trying to do it all day long. You can be deliberate about it and find a way of viewing the task that feels powerful and joyful. By doing it most days in the week, for a month, you will get better at it quickly. Here are some additional tips:

Every day, we go through a set of actions that is training our minds in the long term. Sometimes we’re training intentionally: we meditate, practice focus, get ourselves to start a workout, resist temptations, etc. Mostly, though, we’re training unintentionally: when you press snooze on the alarm clock, look at social media for 30 minutes, beat yourself up for something you’re not doing … these are probably things you’ve already trained yourself to do, and you’re reinforcing them each time you do them. I’m not pointing this out to make anyone feel bad — this isn’t about making ourselves wrong for how we’re training ourselves. Goodness knows we do that enough. I’m pointing this out because it gives us an opportunity — we can put awareness and intentionality into what we’re training, every day. This can change how we do everything, which can create a different way we’re showing up for our lives, and a different set of results. For example: You can see that this is an opportunity to shift everything we do … and more importantly, shift how we do everything. It takes a great degree of awareness of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, but it’s an awareness we can develop with intention and practice. Which is exactly how we train something new: intention and practice. What would you like to train in this moment?