BY ELLIE CONSTANTINOU
What’s that thing that you want to do ‘one day’? The thing
that’s always at the back of your mind, the idea that has always remained a
dream, something that you’ve never even tried to make a reality. Everyone has
it, some people have more than one and some even have more than they can count.
We all have something in common though, we aren't taking any steps towards
making these things happen. It might be a hobby, or a business idea, something
that we’d love to do if only we had the time, or the money. My genuine question
to you, is why not?
Unfortunately, we’re good at convincing ourselves that right
now isn't the best time. Next year, or maybe in a couple of years, it will be
the right time. Right? The problem is, that the right time will never come.
Ever. Next year, another excuse will come along. The year after that, you’ll
find something else that’ll stop you. So, stop waiting for the decision to feel
comfortable, because taking a risk will never feel comfortable and that's what
makes doing it so rewarding. It’s up to you to work out not whether the time is
right, but whether the thing is right.
About a year ago I decided to stop using the word ‘later’ as a
means of pushing something to the back of my mind and never thinking about it
again. Instead, I started thinking practically about the ideas I had and
whether I could take any steps in my current circumstances to make them happen.
Rather than killing off an idea with the mentality of ‘I can’t do it’ or ‘It
would never work’, I started asking questions like ‘What part of it can I do?’
or ’What do I need to do to make it work?’. Most of the time I found that it
was my own mind creating limitations and second guessing anything that I wanted
to achieve. Decisions were clouded with self-doubt and lack of confidence, a
fear that I wouldn’t be able to see something through and that only end up
looking unreliable. If I couldn’t remain committed to my own plan or idea, why
should anyone else trust me?
With my personal blog/website, I had written the first post
weeks before actually sharing it on the website or on any social media
platforms. I was worried it would be my first and only post, a whole website
dedicated to my lack of commitment and simply a showcase of the failure that I
had set up for myself. It was three weeks after I had written the post, that I
found the document on my laptop and read it back to myself. It was only once
I’d closed the document and then hesitated and opened it up again changed a
word to improve the flow of a sentence, that I realised I had something that
would probably be appreciated by a few people around me and that there was a
small possibility that it might be worth sharing.
It was the moment I hit ‘Publish’, that I realised that any
discomfort I was trying to avoid was all in my head. It’s most likely the same
for you too. You don't feel that you’re good enough, or that someone else could
do whatever it is you want to do, better than you can. Imagine just how much
difference it would make if you changed your mind-set and focused on making
progress in your own growth and the development of an idea as opposed to
selling yourself short or comparing yourself to others.
Founder of his own media network, Tim O’Reilly said “Pursue
something so important that even if you fail, the world is better off with you
having tried”. Whether it’s a business, a blog or a YouTube channel, anything
that you pursue with your undivided attention and effort, is important. With
something important, you will always win. The outcome might not be 1000 views
of your first video like you wanted, but it might serve as a source of
inspiration to someone that watched it. Your business might not break-even in
it’s first year, but it might help someone achieve something that they weren’t
able to do on their own. The world is better off just because you tried.
I’m a strong advocate for asking the big question ‘What’s
next?’ and my friends can testify that I am constantly pestering them when they
get a bit too comfortable or reluctant to make moves towards their bigger
goals. What I tell them, and what I really want you to take away from this post
is that planning is already half of the work. Asking yourself what you can do
within your current capacity and circumstance to make your dream a reality and
then committing to completing that task to the best of your ability is the
biggest push in the right direction. From that first step, results and feelings
of accomplishment will be enough momentum to carry you forward to the next
stage. A simple formula that creates the most amazing, rewarding, and worthy
results.
There really is nothing stopping you except yourself and the
best time is right now. What’s your next step?
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