Before we start, please check out our new podcast, Good Sleep. Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep? That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations.
And these affirmations aren't just comforting. They can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for a true good sleep. So press play on Good Sleep tonight because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily.
This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 2317 when starting is the hardest thing. 8 Tips for Getting Unstuck by Emma Shibe of SimpleSlowLovely.com And I'm Justin Malik and I'm going to jump right into today's post as we optimize your life. When starting is the hardest thing. 8 Tips for Getting Unstuck by Emma Shibe of SimpleSlowLovely.com Last week, I signed up to participate in a 3-month decluttering course.
Although I've done plenty of decluttering in the past few years, I've not had a decent call for about a year. The truth is, it's so easy to put it off. And this is true for any project or goal you want in life. The doing is not always the hard part.
It's the starting that can get you stuck. Every single essay or assignment I wrote in my 10 years at university began the same way. Ah, why do I have to do this? Or is too hard, I'll start tomorrow.
The starting bit that getting off the blocks was always the hardest part. But once I started and the flow began, it didn't seem like a chore anymore. It was also like this when I knew I needed to make exercise a habit over a decade ago. I knew I needed something that I would enjoy and stick to.
I decided to give running a go, but starting was the hard part. I'm sure I put off starting for several months before finally tying up my laces. And even after 14 years of consistent running, it's still the starting, the heading out the door that's the hardest bit. But once I'm out, sunshine or rain, I enter the flow and wonder why it took me so long to start in the first place.
Why we get stuck. We struggle with starting due to many things, but the biggest by far is fear. Fear of failing at whatever it is we desire to do keeps us stuck at the starting line. And sometimes this fear has already driven us to make a prediction that we will fail so why bother starting.
The problem is, if we consistently live our lives stuck at the starting blocks, we won't achieve anything. We won't make the changes we need to and we won't grow. Sure, starting can be uncomfortable. We have to go head to head with the fears that keep us stuck.
And that's scary. But once we start and gain a little momentum or get in the flow, we're usually pleasantly surprised at the results. You might be at the starting line of a new healthy eating regime, or perhaps like me where needing to embark on a big decluttering mission. Whatever it is, you just have to push off and go.
Eight tips if you're stuck at the starting line. Number one, figure out why you are stuck. The first thing you need to do is to figure out why you are stuck. What's keeping you from taking your first step?
Is it fear or something else? And yes, sometimes it can be just pure laziness. Knowing why you are stuck is a tangible step to becoming unstuck. Number two, figure out why you want to do XYZ.
Understanding your why for anything you do is important. Why do you want to start eating better? Is it to lower your cholesterol or fit back into those skinny jeans hiding in the back of your closet? Identifying your why might help you decide if you even need to be at the starting line.
Number three, visualize your life with XYZ done. How will you feel? What will it mean for you to have this thing done or at least started? Imagine your life with this goal complete.
This type of visualization is motivating and can nudge you closer to your first step forward. Number four, make a plan. Sometimes with more complex goals, the starting point isn't always clear. You can do this or that, but which step is the right step?
Get clear on what your first step is. Write it down. Number five, be accountable. Sometimes all we need is some accountability.
There have been many times I've wanted to start something and kept it to myself. But as soon as I tell a friend and know that the next coffee date will include questions about XYZ, I'm much more inclined to step off the starting blocks. Number six, put failure into perspective. If your main reason for being stuck is fear, take some time to put that fear into perspective.
Will you really fail? Will the failure be that bad? Are you risking your home and livelihood or your reputation? Of course, if there is a lot at stake, this will be difficult.
But there's also a good chance you've overestimated the negative consequences of your perceived failure. Number seven, warm up, but not for too long. Most good runners will perform some sort of warm up before a race. Helps prepare their body for what's about to happen.
You need to do the same. Good preparation keeps failure on the sidelines and makes success much more likely. I did a fair amount of preparation before I sat down and wrote the first sentence of the first chapter of the book I'm writing. It gave me the confidence I needed to get off the blocks.
But I also didn't overdo it. Because I can do all the preparation in the world, but if I don't have a manuscript to hand over, there is no book. Don't use preparation as a procrastination tool. And number eight, go.
Yes, you're here. You have to do the thing you want to do. No more waiting. Remember, there will never be the perfect time to take your first step, so just do it.
Apply for that job, sign up for the fitness class, tell someone about the bad habit you want to ditch. Want to know the secret sauce to all of this though? You actually might fail. It's true.
You might. But even if you fail, you will have learned something, which means you'll have grown. You'll have some knowledge about yourself that you didn't have before. And this makes the failure a non-failure.
The secret is everything we try, even things that don't work, aka failures, are opportunities for growth. And with this mindset, you'll never fail. Success starts when you start where you are. So, just start.
You just listen to the post titled, When Starting is the Hardest Thing, Eight Tips for Getting Unstuck by M.S.I.B. of Simple Slow Lovely.com. Local news is in decline across Canada, and this is bad news for all of us. With less local news, noise, rumors, and misinformation fill the void, and it gets harder to separate truth from fiction.
That's why CBC News is putting more journalists in more places across Canada, reporting on the ground from where you live, telling the stories that matter to all of us. Because local news is big news. Choose news, not noise. CBC News.
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Right now, it's just $199. And head to superpower.com and use code old at checkout for an additional $20 off your membership. If they could, Emma, I was watching a video the other day of someone who learned a new language in like six months. Obviously not perfected, but conversational.
And one of the hardest languages to learn at that, ranked by standard tests. Anyway, one of the tips was interesting. Writing down your why. It's not super intuitive, but if you set out to achieve something pretty big, there will be setbacks.
There are always setbacks to where you feel like you need to start again. It's like that with this podcast all the time. Just starting a recording. It's like a new project all over again.
And I have to do that seven times a week. You need to get stuck at the starting line even after doing this for over six years. But I do have my why. I have my own selfish reasons of this show actually helping me.
I get emails every once in a while from you telling me how it's helped. Even a phone call one time sent into optimal health daily, knowing that it's helping someone is another why. This becoming my career is another why. It's what supports me.
There are lots of reasons and they're all very important. And how I'm able to move past the starting line every time I need to record and then edit and read and everything else. So all that to say, maybe it sounded not very important, but having that why can really make the difference between starting and not. So do get started today as we head into the weekend.
Have a great one and I'll see you over the weekend where your optimal life awaits.