Start Now and Figure It Out Later

A Solid Approach To Anything In Life

Three years ago, I wanted to be a writer.

Do you know what I did? I started writing (almost) every day and became a writer.

Three months ago, I wanted to write a book.

Do you know what happened next?

You guessed it — I wrote a book, at least a first draft of one.

I know what you’re thinking:

“Who cares if you wrote a book? Call me when you actually get a book published!”

You’re right — getting published is hard.

Do you know what’s even harder?

Getting published with a book that doesn’t exist.*

I know, this isn’t the most original goal. After all, everyone and their mother wants to go on to write the next the great American novel.

The thing is, what percentage of people actually do it?

I’m no mathematician, but if I had to guess, it would be an itty bitty number. We’re talking one of those numbers with a lot of zeros after the decimal point.

As sad as this is, it’s true.

Too many people get in their own way, and if I had to guess, you’re one of them.

Don’t believe me?

What was the last idea you had? Was it a book you wanted to write? A business you wanted to start?

Whatever it was, it doesn’t matter — you didn’t start it.

If you had, you probably would’ve stopped reading this by now and continued working on that book or business.

Why do you, and so many others, let your projects die on the vine?

It’s simple:

You never get started.

You don’t have enough time. You don’t have enough money. You’re not good enough. You have nothing to say or no problem to solve. You’re afraid to fail.

The list goes on and on.

When I hear these excuses, I usually read between the lines and assume there’s only one reason for not getting started:

You don’t know where to start.

Sound familiar? Don’t worry — I’m not blaming you. As much as people try to sell you on the idea, there is no one way to accomplish anything.

As scary as this sounds, it should also be weirdly reassuring.

There is no “right” way to do anything, which means, your first step can’t be wrong.

That is, unless you don’t take it.

Want to write a book? Start writing it now and figure out how to publish it later on in the process.

Thinking of starting a business? Figure out how to sell your product or service to one person, and only one person, and then worry about scaling up later.

Have you always wanted to try photography? Take your phone, snap a photo, and set up an Instagram account. You’ll figure out the rest later.

I know I’m oversimplifying all of this, but that’s because it’s actually pretty simple. We just tend to get in our own way by overcomplicating things

Whatever your idea is, think about the first step you can take. Once you figure it out, stop thinking and start doing.

*Let’s ignore that, with most nonfiction books, all you need is a proposal.

Do you have an idea? Are you afraid of getting started? Share your thoughts in the comments below or on Twitter at @williamfrazr.

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