HOW TO GET STARTED
Hello! Seiiti Arata. Isn’t it incredible how some people seem able to get started without
hesitation, overthinking or procrastination?
That’s particularly amazing for the rest of us, who go to the Internet and click on
videos with titles such as “How to Get Started".
We are the ones who plan ahead because we don’t want to be reckless by starting things
that might lead to emotional frustration or even physical pain or monetary damage. Yes,
we do our research to find some guidance, good information. But at the same time, we
don’t want to get stuck and overwhelmed.
Analysis Paralysis happens when we’re under the illusion that we need more and more information
to actually get started. The fear of making mistakes causes us to freeze up and do nothing.
And I have to open myself to you: it is very scary to record this video now. I have no
idea what will happen next, how you will receive this video or what impact, what meaning it
will have for you. So there’s a lot of uncertainty when starting anything new.
When we navigate in uncertainty, so many things can go wrong. If we have a poor performance,
there will be bad results. Oh, yeah: we will feel the pain of failure and that is a cost
we want to avoid. But listen here, my friend: I would like to talk to you about an invisible
cost: the cost of not starting at all.
You see? Not even starting is a choice. And it is oftentimes a bad choice, with its own
costs.
But since “not starting now” is a PASSIVE choice, our brains have more difficulty grasping
the price we pay.
If you tell me, “Hey, I have this idea for a product that can help so many people!”
and I reply to you saying, “That sounds great! You should develop that concept and
turn it into a reality” … what happens if you don’t get started? If you don’t
do anything about it, it will be difficult to imagine what you are actually losing.
As soon as we understand the cost of not starting, then we have much more motivation to begin.
But maybe you already have the clear motivation. Your goal is very clear, it is just that you
are not sure how to start. Right? See, in this situation, there is the analysis paralysis
once again – the fear that by taking the wrong first step everything that follows will
be bad.
With this mindset, it’s so easy to get distracted, checking out what other people are doing,
searching for clues, formulas, shortcuts, proven methods. During this search, if you
find true masters, it can be an awesome experience, because what they can do is beyond anything
we have ever seen before. This can be an inspiration, for sure. But it can also increase our anxiety.
Suddenly we can move from “Oh wow, look at how great these people are” to “Oh,
look how tiny I am”, and that’s not a helpful state.
Whenever I feel like that, I make a conscious effort to focus on who I am and what I’m
able to do right now.
This is my start: I find one simple action. And most importantly, it has to be so easy
that it would be irrational not to do it. And then build my next step on top of that.
Eventually I hope to improve so much that I can do all the amazing things that other
people do, but that will be later. Right now I understand I can do just one simple thing.
Some people say that the first step is the most difficult one. Do you agree with that?
If the first step is the most difficult one, what can we do? Let’s think together. Should
we suffer and try to make an impossible effort because that’s how it is? That doesn’t
make much sense to me.
If the first step is the most difficult one, there’s something flawed with that step.
It is too complicated. I don’t believe it is useful to blame myself because I’m lazy,
because I’m a coward, because I am dumb, or I don’t have resources, or anything else
that implies my own weakness or wrongness.
I believe we should just make the first step easier. Want to get started? Go ahead, start
now. Can’t do it? No problem, you are OK, keep cool. The first step is just too complicated
right now. Take the time to identify how to make it an easier step. Make it simple and
do it now. And the next steps will follow.
If you want to watch this video in other languages, visit our arata.se/seiiti01. Cheers! Hasta
luego! Um forte abraço!
So today we see how analysis paralysis can cost us and why we want to avoid it. One of
the ways to do that is by choosing a simpler first step, making our lives easier. Did you
find this video valuable? Let me know in the comments below.