Every Successful story has one common step in their different journeys, and we must learn what the common step is before we begin our journey. What is the common step? It is simple. The one event that took place in all different stories is they decided to start at some point. If we analyse every successful person’s journey, varying from each other in terms of purpose, goals, motivation, circumstances, strategies, field of interest, age, personality, wealth etc. we understand they all started from this common start point and kept going as far as they wanted to.
The hardest part of building or working towards a goal is to start from somewhere, it sounds easy, but the truth is the start takes more courage than the rest of the journey. The initial phase is one of the most important parts of your journey. Some of us think reaching a milestone in the journey is crucial, or making that first sale, or securing that first client, or hitting the targets set out by you for your first quarter, but we usually miss the most important milestone of our journey and forget to give ourselves credit for starting. The only thing that keeps us from reaching our goals is the starting point. However, the solution we are looking for is the how of this journey; how do we begin?
The first lesson is to avoid getting too caught up planning a lot, thinking a lot, and waiting for the ideal circumstances. The truth is you will never be fully ready. In my personal experience, the best thing I have taught myself is to never fear rejection or failure. I can try fifty different things and fail at all those fifty attempts, but when I look back, I am fifty steps ahead of my game. It is a much better position than before, I am no longer looking at the start of the road trying to find courage to begin, I am already somewhere in the middle finding which direction to go next. Failure and rejection only make you stronger.
I make cold calls for a living, and it is one of the best skills I have acquired over the years. My business model is based on having a product to sell, potential buyers, and a phone. The cycle is never ending, you keep calling, you get a yes or no, and you keep looking for new people to target. The process makes you so strong, and you eventually start to realize, a no is as good as a yes. You start respecting your time, and once you learn to respect time everything else will follow. The only action that matters in any journey you choose, is that you start now, because you respect your time.
It is like your first time learning how to swim or drive, you will have to get into the water and learn to float, you will have to get behind the wheel, and start the car. So, no matter what it is you want to do or achieve, the only thing you should put most of your energies in the beginning is that you begin. It is not always easy, and we possess natural enemies which stop us from taking that first step like procrastination, financial priorities, level of energies, seeking stability and simply not feeling ready.
The solution to begin, is confidence and self-belief. If some idea has come into your head, or the universe has presented you with some opportunity, have faith it will do you good. You must believe in your journey, you might reach the finish line or you might not; but either way there will always be light at the end of the tunnel, you will always come out with something. I suggest you gather courage from everything you have inside you, do not pressure yourself to get it right, do not doubt yourself, just remember you have already started, and this will take you a long way in the future. You will start to become better, the day after you will make more progress, the following day you might even come back to square one, and then the next day you feel like you are at your best. The assumption of failure, or what might happen or not happen must not stop you from trying.
It is easier said than done but trust me the start of anything can be both difficult and easy. You have nothing and everything to lose, it is by far the most rewarding and beautiful point of any goal you have set up for yourself. It is the one feeling you will not get again. No matter how many different things you start from here, because you are not going backwards, you are moving forward either in same or a different direction. You will be stronger than that first time. If you are thinking of starting anything big or small, or taking a course, or making a change, or anything at all that needs a starting point, I recommend there is no perfect timing than now. You will only get better by doing it and you will only know by starting it. The first step can be as small as thinking about a name of your business, or deciding on a course, but every first step must be followed by an action to start that initial phase.
For example, if you have thought on a name, register it, build a website. If you have decided on the course, enrol in it; only doing will help. Actions more than the thoughts and ideas. Execution more than fear of failure and remember your definition of success should be defined by you and your confidence, not what is expected of you by your immediate and broader circle. This is your journey; it will be different to everyone else but trust me this is right for you. Do it and don’t look back. It is simple.
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