Weekend Dare: Start Small, Today.

If not now, when?

We all have that thing on any given day. It simmers away at the back of your mind. It’s something that you want to put time into, but haven’t got to yet. It’s an idea you can’t unhook yourself from. A “sticky” challenge or problem.

Sometimes it’s simple and small.

A book you’ve been wishing you could jump into, writing that blog post you meant to get to, or starting the chores that have been driving you crazy all week.

Sometimes it’s huge and intimidating.

Changing jobs. Feeling happier and more alive day to day. Sharing your truth with someone and not knowing how it will pan out.

 

It feels like an end of summer thing, to have a lot of these things piling up. In my mind, I‘m used to navigating around stacks of these things that I dream up for myself as shoulds, wants and (God forbid!) musts. I’m used to knowing that I will never get them done, and filing them in Pinterest and Evernote for future reference if they’re really tempting. But lately I’ve decided to change my approach.

 

I’ve started a habit of starting small.

  • Instead of blogging from start to finish, I’ll write for 15 – 20 minutes and then come back to continue another day.
  • Instead of cleaning my whole house, I’ll de-clutter part of one room for 15 minutes and continue the next day.
  • Instead of setting aside a whole day to work on my personal creative projects, I’ll wake up earlier and give them a half hour.
  • Instead of putting aside 3 hours once a month to talk shop with my business partner, we check in throughout the week.

It’s not revolutionary, but it feels like a superpower! After two weeks, my house is cleaner that it’s been in months, I’m writing again, I’m creating things for myself for the sheer fun of it, and the things that have been burning a hole in my piece of mind are things I can feel accomplished about.

Sounds good, right?

Click to tweet it: Today I give myself permission to start small & remember that I’m not behind. Not now, not ever! 

 

Whatever that thing is for you, I have a dare for you today:

 ①  Take a small step & celebrate it.

Take the first impossibly small step toward that thing that you can think of. Making a list could be a good place to start – but just writing the list, not even doing anything on it. Set a timer for 15 minutes, do what you can, and then stop.

Stopping is hard, but it’s a powerful practice in letting a little be enough.

The magic is in the repetition. Do this little bit every day, or every other day, will make your accomplishments stack up in fabulous ways.

 

②  Remind yourself that you’re doing great, and you are not behind.

No matter where you think you should be, that idea is just your imagination. You are only exactly where you are, and with tiny repeated effort you will move mountains!

You are not behind. And while we’re at it you are also not too old, or too young, or too fat, or too thin, or too late, or too early, or too anything. You are putting one foot in front of the other, and you are doing great. 

You are not behind. You are incredible, you are building momentum and you are going to surprise yourself.

 

What do you think – challenge accepted?
What are you going to tackle with your new small superpower?

Image: The Motivated Type