Overcoming the blank page

I did not for a second see the blank page in front of me as an opportunity. The blankness restrained me, made me consider the perfection of the uniformity that I was going to abuse by touching my thoughts, my code, me…. to that page.

I am sure that apprehension is one of the biggest reasons that anyone beginning to create something, which cannot be completed in one sitting, is never started. It is daunting and we each have our own reasons for giving in and giving up.

My blank page was for setting up my own business. I studied communications and rhetoric at university and the only job experience I had was at an underwhelming customer service company, unpaid teaching work, and the odd job that made me a just another cog in the machine. And the last thing that we ever discussed growing up was business. I had nothing noteworthy to add to that blank page, and a whole lot of work to get me to where I was going.

I wanted to run my own business because I had a burning desire to work for myself and earn my own income. Change my trajectory of the things I could learn, take risks, work hard, have fun, set our culture, and do things in a better way. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, but how I wanted to get there seemed to be through this blank page. And it was intimidating.

The first piece of advice that I give anyone starting out a new business is — 5 minutes. It only takes 5 minutes to get something onto that blank page and start perfecting an idea instead of trying to create one.

Getting a complete idea down on paper is going to take some time, but it will come quickly as long as you have something to start from. You will find a flow, ideas and thoughts will start to hit you, and you will end up thinking and rethinking some of the central elements that are going to make it work. It is these ideas that you can start working on, and you will be on your way to making something.

Overcoming this fear of the blank page is going to be an asset to doing business. There are going to be situations every day where you will need to overcome this uncertainty and find a way forward. Most things you will encounter will not have an obvious path to success, and so every day, get up and take 5 minutes to get started and then work to perfect it.

Don’t fear this failure, and rather embrace it. While the first idea you put to paper will likely not be the one you will end up using, it is the most vital part of your process to get you to the one that is the right one.

5 minutes is all it takes to get started.