STARTING AGAIN…

In today’s world, there are so many people telling you in different ways how to “not quit”. And that’s okay! But what happens when you do quit and you want to get back on the wagon?

You used to do something. Run a business. Manage a foundation. Workout. A blog. Anything…And then you quit or maybe you were forced to quit. Shit happens. But now, you need to go back to it and you’re wondering, “how do I start again when I’ve been gone for so long? Where do I start from? Why is starting again so hard?”

You see, think about this. A little boy is in a race. His leg hits a bump on the field and he trips, falling face first into the ground. Do you think he has a better chance at winning if he stands up and keeps running or if he stays on the floor contemplating….”hmmm how do I start, where do I start from?”

Now let’s imagine he has wasted a little time just being on the floor and doing nothing. Do you think he has a better chance of winning if he stays on the floor and says “I’ve already wasted time, let me just stay here and cover my face” or if he stands up and starts running?

Okay let’s imagine if he has wasted even more time and now he says “you know what? I’m just going to stay on the floor here and then once the race is over, I’ll come with a Big Bang by doing a never-before-seen sprint.” Does that make more sense than him getting up and running now? No??

Alright, now let’s assume he never gets up and they’re giving participation medals at the finish line. Is he going to get one? No? Well, you’re right. He won’t get one because he never made it to the finish line.

Let’s apply this to you and this thing you want to start again –

1. Don’t waste all your time thinking about how to start. Just start. It may seem like a repetitive and unreasonable advice until you actually just start. That’s when you realize that most of the time you spent “thinking about to start” was really you just holding back because of your fears.

2. Don’t waste time thinking about the time you’ve wasted. Just start. It’s okay that you’ve wasted time. The good news is that it’s never too late. The best time to start was yesterday but the next best time is right now.

3. Don’t waste time planning some big entry because you’ve been away. All you need to do is start. Don’t think that because you quit before, you need to start again with some impossible Big Bang. Instead, invest your time in smaller, but more consistent steps.

4. Nobody gets a medal for what they didn’t do. Only for what they did do. So if you never start, you’d never know.

Just start!

Love,

Tomi of Lagos.