“Do not wait. The time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever
tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.”
Napoleon Hill
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After having taken some time off over the New Year, I returned to my local gym for a workout this morning. At a time when many businesses actively market their weight loss, diet, fitness and healthy eating plans to the masses who often are seeking to make a quick shift in their lives, it was refreshing to see the quote below written on the wall of the personal training studio.
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”
Following the Second World War, researchers and behavioural scientists such as the notable and esteemed William Edwards Deming, predicated that one of the greatest barriers to human success was developing the initial inertia needed to start, followed by the need to commit to taking regular and consistent steps towards the progress of our goals, each and every day.
We’ve all had experiences in our lives where we have desired to make a change or had a desire to create some form of transformation, and yet somehow were unable to find the willingness, courage or discipline to just start. We all know that it’s very hard to get a stationary body moving, but that once its in motion any energy or effort we apply to it will have an accelerated effect. So how do we overcome our fears of failure? How do we gather the energy and willingness to start? I believe that the answer to these questions are held in the quote that was on wall of my personal training gym.
Start Where You Are
No matter what is happening in your life or where you find yourself, the reality is that we all can find the courage to make a new start.
Whether it be a commitment to eating healthy, the desire to put ourselves out in the world again and begin dating, or the quest to grow and expand our business, there is no better time than the present moment to start. Why? Because the past has been your learning platform, the canvas on which you have painted the foundation of your life so far. But what you choose to paint on your canvas from this time on is not limited by the experiences of your past.
Today simply by picking up the brush and beginning to paint with small strokes, you impress upon the unconscious mind that you are a partner in creation, and that you are ready to create from your true source of genius. Each step we take whether small or great reinforces a path of action, the key is to just start, and then to refine and evolve our process as we go along.
Marketing expert and speaker Paul McCarthy encapsulates this energy well with his catchphrase “Ready. Fire. Aim”. Too many of us spend copious amounts of energy trying to get things perfect and right (aiming), before we choose to take any action. The result is often procrastination, stagnation and an endless cycle of dreams that never come to full reality. Instead when we understand that we are ready now, and take inspired and intuitive action, a new world of opportunity has the potential to open for us.
And while this might seem scary to those of us who are perfectionists, who fear failure and therefore need to see and know the whole picture in advance, training ourselves to move beyond the fears of the ego and find courage to gently and powerfully ‘lean into our passions’ is the key to all great success and achievement.
Use What You Have
What resources, skills, talents and abilities do you already have? What have you already invested your life
mastering so far?
Many of us underestimate the skills, talents and abilities that we already possess. We often take for granted what we can do and accomplish with ease, while many others might struggle or find it difficult to do the same.
The key to unfolding your talents, skills and abilities is to make short inventory of all the things that you have done, the talents that you hold and what brings you fully alive. By reflecting on this list and bringing to awareness the ‘gift that you already are’, you will begin to awaken your potential and see the vast value that you can bring to the world.
Instead of falling for the trap of always seeking the next course, the next teacher, the next business idea or concept, choose instead to start by creating greater awareness and self-value of the person that you already are, and the gifts that you already possess. When you being to see yourself as the magnificent, then magnificent opportunities will present in your life. When you choose to see that your talents and skills are valuable, then people and opportunities that reflect that value will also begin to appear.
So, start where you are, use what you have and begin taking some form of action towards creating what you desire.
Do What You Can
When we look deep into the heart of what keeps us separate from our dreams its often a long list of excuses. While we may believe we don’t have the money to invest, we can all begin to put our loose change away in a jar and begin to save it for an investment portfolio. While we may not feel like we have the time to dedicate to our family, we can all create some space to gather for an evening meal once a week. If you are a budding author, and yet you can only find ten minutes a day to write, then write for ten minutes. If you want to lose weight and gain greater fitness but can only attend a yoga class once a week, then start there.
And if you’re struggling to even commit just ten minutes towards realising your highest life dreams and purpose, then you may need to come back to your reasons for ‘why’ you want them in the first place. When our ‘why’ is not strong enough then we are left at the mercy of the winds that blow, our direction and purpose is at the disposal of the Gods and rather than end up where we choose to go, we will find ourselves drifting in a harbour of uncertainty, inadequacy and despondency.
Therefore, the final element in the life puzzle is to simply do what you can in each moment.
Rather than buy into excuses, commit a small amount of your energy daily to doing what is most important to you. Because when you choose to value yourself and commit to your life, then life reflects that energy back to you. It rewards you with the sweet nectar of success.
Living Fully on Purpose
As we start a new year it’s a fitting time to tune into the energy and intent of the quote above. Take time to reflect on it and its meaning for you currently. And I am guessing that as you do, you will also find that within you is a great source of potential that is waiting to be expressed and shared in the world.
We can all start now to put fuel to the flames of what is most important to us, however to do so mean giving up the excuses that may have kept us playing small for too long, and to instead find the courage within to take small, consistent and happy steps towards realising the true life of purpose and fulfillment that we have always desired, and that our soul seeks to discover in this lifetime.
Les Price is a transformational life and business coach, author, speaker, intuitive and healer. If you feel you have been holding onto limiting patterns, emotions, feeling and blockages from the past that no longer serve you, and are looking for a safe environment to allow greater freedom and liberation into your life – contact our office to organise a consultation with Les.