One of the greatest truisms of life is that we are all going to DIE; that is our ultimate destination. A lot of us would not achieve our most cherished aspirations in life not because we do not know what to do, we know what to do but we wait for the perfect time, we say: “Someday I’ll“…….when I do…I’ll do this or that. Our time here is short as we are all living on borrowed time. The key to starting is to START, take baby steps. As Chinese Philosopher and Writer Lao Tzu famously said: “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” and as The Buddha quipped: “The trouble is, you think you have time.”
Alfred D Souza. observed:
“For a long time, it had seemed to me that life was about to begin – real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last, it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
You do not have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. Many of us have misplaced priorities; we do what we are supposed to do tomorrow today and do what we are supposed to do today tomorrow. Hence we do not achieve our goals and aspirations. If you do what is hard and pay today, your life would be easy tomorrow, but if you do what is easy and play today, your life would be hard tomorrow. Garbage in, Garbage out, what you put in is what you get out.
In his book “The Scottish Himalayan Expedition“ Scottish mountaineer and writer W. H. Murray, writes:
“Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would not otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man would have dreamed would come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now.”
Author, and Cardiologist George Sheehan quipped
“There are those of us who are always about to live. We are waiting until things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we get a promotion, until we settle down—until, until, until. It always seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we begin living.”
So stop waiting . . .Until your car or home is paid off. Until you get a new car or home. Until your kids leave the house. Until you go back to school. Until you finish school. Until you lose ten pounds. Until you gain ten pounds. Until you get married. Until you get a divorce. Until you have kids. Until you retire. Until summer. Until spring. Until winter. Until fall. Until you die. Until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy.
Life is for the living; this is not a dress rehearsal. You Only Live Once. If you live great, one time is enough. Stop waiting for the perfect time, the perfect season, the perfect mood. There would never be a perfect time; the key is to make your decisions align with your principles and values. The key is to start, have a daily routine/agenda, follow-through, and achieve your goals.
Author and Leadership Expert, John C. Maxwell, in his book Today Matters advised:
Getting started is often the hardest part of making changes in your life, whether it’s an exercise regimen, a personal growth plan, a diet, or a program to quit smoking. Because we already have so many reasons not to start in the back of our minds, John shared some compelling ideas about getting started:
START WITH YOURSELF
If you desire for just one person close to you—your spouse, your child, a close friend, an employee—to change in some way, then become a model of change yourself. When that happens—
• You gain experience, confidence, integrity, and influence.
• You become content with yourself. (As the popular psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw would say, “You need to be there for you first.”)
• You must have something to give before you can give to others
START EARLY
There’s an old saying that Noah didn’t wait for his ship to come in; he built one! If you take a proactive approach to changing your life and you start early, you increase your odds for success—and you create more options for yourself later in life.
START SMALL
The bigger the change, the more intimidating it can be. That’s why I recommend starting small. Just about everyone believes he can take a small step. That’s encouraging. When you start small and succeed, it helps you believe you can accomplish the next step. (Besides, you can’t do step two until you’ve completed step one, right?) It also helps you to prioritize your actions and focus your energy. But here’s a piece of advice: As you get ready to begin, don’t expect to understand all of what it will take to get to the top. Just focus on the next step.
START NOW
Dick Biggs, author of Burn Brightly Without Burning Out, says, “The greatest gap in life is the one between knowing and doing.” Deep down, we all know that if we want to change and grow, we need to get started. Yet we sometimes hesitate. That’s why Maureen Falcone says, “Most people fail in the starting.
You may have a million reasons not to get started now. But deep down, none of them can be as compelling as your desire to change, grow, and succeed. In a month or a year or five years from now, you may have only one regret—that you didn’t start now. Today matters. The way you spend today really can change your life. But the first decision you must make is to begin.
Start Now and Stop waiting for the perfect time, perfect weather, perfect spouse, perfect mood, perfect country, perfect friends, Don’t Worry be Crappy., Just Do It: Start that Blog, Start that Business, Start that Regimen, Routine, Start that course, and remember: You do not need to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.
All the Best in your quest to get Better. Don’t Settle: Live with Passion.
Comments are closed.