How to Get Started
“If you don’t PRODUCE, you won’t THRIVE”
Cal Newport, DEEP Work
Do you look at other people and wonder how they get so much done? Do you see people writing, taking photos, and making art, and wish that you knew their secret?
The most important step is getting started.
Even if you love making art, writing, drawing, or painting, getting started can often feel hard. You might not know exactly how to start. You might be afraid that what you create isn’t going to be any good. AND, you’ll still need to start.
A timer should be your best friend.
Getting started, and being willing to get started every day, is the biggest indicator that you’re going to make the thing that you see in your head, write the book, or design the perfect piece of jewelry.
Set a timer for 15 minutes, and spend at least 15 minutes working on your idea every day. Some days you may end up only creating for 15 minutes, but often, you’ll probably end up creating for longer, because you started, and starting is the hardest part.
Remove Barriers
While often the act of getting started is the biggest barrier, you likely are also worried about failing, not having a good enough idea or wasting materials. So, let’s set a timer for 15 minutes 😂, and work on removing some barriers.
- You’re worried that you don’t have good enough ideas. We often don’t know if we have a good idea or not until we start to test it. And even if we learn through testing that our idea isn’t very good, that act of moving through the process of verification, often helps us to formulate new ideas. Give yourself permission not to get it right the first time. It’s part of the creative process. AND try some of these idea generation exercises.
- You don’t want to waste your materials. That’s the perfect reason to have some less expensive to use as you test your ideas. You could have 1 sketchbook or notebook that has a nice cover and high-quality paper, and another that is simple and expensive.
