Are you at the beginning of something you want to accomplish?

Great advice and a GREAT quote to ponder. Often times I find myself not scared or fearful to start, but mostly too aware of the outcome I want. I’m speaking for myself here…When something rings true I feel it & know it as Truth. With a capital “T” because of what it stands for. The bottom line.

There is nothing underneath it. It is Truth and it is beautiful knowing it is what it says it is. Often times starting from this point and being honest with myself I can put down what appears to be “The Truth” and walk away from it knowing I did what I could in the moment. I am applying this to establishing the JUMPOFF. A platform that will allow for True creativity to begin to develop an idea. Whether it be a blog. A new project. A chore at home or a new story. If I allow myself to let it flow and immerse in the opportunity the moment is presenting….I will step up to bat and take a few swings at it. Many times we see the outcome we want and fear the work it will take to get there. Or come up with excuses as to why we can’t or won’t take the bat (tools) life has given us and stand there at the plate called life in front of the pitcher named uncertainty and try and make contact.

For myself, and I speak from experience almost nothing I have ever created ended up being what I intended. Many times it has come out better than I could’ve imagined. The prescription I have always eluded to was to take the fear & the doubt and seen them as bullies trying to keep me from my goals. I see them for what they are. Flagpoles of insecurity. Billboards showing me I’m headed in the right direction. I remind myself that on the other side of those negative emotions is a reward greater and worthy of discovery.

As an artist, standing in front of a daunting canvas, empty and intimidating, a million outcomes could potentially keep me from allowing the painting to reveal its self. The fact that the easel is already occupying the canvas is a reminder that it already has begun. It’s all perspective. The work has already started. It’s the ORGANIZATION of brush strokes in collaboration with the paint that is all that’s missing. Like a good composer organizes all the notes into chords and arranged all the instruments to harmonize we have to diligently allow our creativity to serve us by simply organizing the steps.

Something else that helps is a thing called reverse engineering and scheduling. Reverse Engineering is the process of taking something apart and putting it back together again that opens a new window in order to see how it works. It can be used any time someone wants to understand a process or project. You take that outcome you want by imagining it…thinking from the end, and you determine the steps you must take to get to get back to square one. All-time based-so you can actually schedule your success. Which is where scheduling becomes critical.

Many of us wait for inspiration before we act. We mundanely stroll through life’s distractions. Rowing the boat merrily down the stream. Usually sitting back allowing the flow to take us wherever it’s taking us. The doers are the ones that realize you MUST schedule your time to take action. Even if you don’t want to. You dedicate certain times to achieve what it is you want for yourself. If I waited for inspiration to finish a painting it most certainly would never get done. I used to set up my paints put that canvas on an easel and set it up where I would have to see it. Waking by every day would be a reminder that the painting is not going to paint itself. I would wait for it to “call me” before I actually started a session. I realized that I was wasting valuable time. If I organized the time I needed to complete it or had a deadline I imposed on myself I would have to abide by the success schedule I set out. I knew that the painting could not be compete without a certain amount of brushstrokes applied. Let’s say it was 10,000 strokes. If I took 1,000 a day I could finish in 10 days. This changed everything.

I offer this process to your reader to make you responsible and accountable for your own success. The process has already started. There is a “knowing” that you must accept that has already insured you’re victory. Once you planted the seed in your mind as a goal you MUST achieve, the next parts are easy. All you have to do is make the commitment to follow through with the steps to unveil your masterpiece.

It’s been said that real fatigue dose not come from too much work. REAL fatigue comes from unfinished business. Thinking about what you have left to do can not only fatigue you but cause paralysis. TAKE ACTION!!! Move towards your goal. The fact that you are thinking about what you want is the starting point. You already started. All you have to do is keep going!! Stepping confidently knowing that there are no mistakes. There are no setbacks. Those set backs are really just setups for your victory. If you can think of the outcome all you have to do is petition the universe to conspire to help you find creative ways to accomplish it. Once you take the first steps in Faith…the next steps will magically appear.

I leave you with this, a quote from Martha Graham that speaks to this topic and the angst an artist feels towards starting and/or completing anything. It has helped me be okay with “what is” when it comes to creating so I will get out of my own way and just start. I will go ahead and get out of the way now so you can read it. I trust this will ignite something in you that will make you take the leap. “There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatsoever at any time. There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.”

Onward! Just move in faith and NFQ!!

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