How to Achieve Anything
Break Free from Your Procrastinator Self.
A couple of Saturdays ago, I met up with my sister to prepare a birthday card for our cousin, which we planned to give her during lunch later that day.
On the blank open sides of the card, we each wrote a few celebratory sentences to her. Hers on the top right corner, and mine on the bottom left corner.
However, there remained a large, empty space too big to be ignored. If left untreated, it would detract from the messages of love and care we intended the card to convey.
I needed to remove the negativity of the blankness.
So, I decided to fill the space.
Yet, I was unsure how I would do so.
In my sister’s pen case, I found colored pens. With hesitation, I wrapped my fingers around the green pen and dropped its tip onto the blank space above my message. With no particular plans ahead, no clear direction, a dot of uncertainty emerged on the canvas of black and white.
Lifting the card with the dot, I stretched my arm out to take a gaze at it into the distance. Suddenly, I remembered that whenever I was asked my favorite color, I always answered “green.”
From there, it was an event sparked by my fingertips.
Five minutes later, the lonely card adorned itself with hues fitting for a birthday celebration, with me in green on the left and my sister in orange on the right, each emitting their respective messages.
The Power of Just Starting
Through this episode, what I want to convey is the power of “just starting” when you want to accomplish something.
So many of us hesitate to take the first step when we lack a plan. We refrain from joining journeys where the destination or goal isn’t clear from the outset. While being directed every step of the way feels restrictive, being told we can do anything or go anywhere, on the other hand, leaves us feeling lost about what to do. Too many choices cloud our vision, and we find ourselves paralyzed by indecision. We fear the blank canvas.
In such times, a resolution to such a state is simply to take the first step in front of us.
What’s important here is not the quality of that step. It’s to “take” the step, not about “what” step it is.
This is easier said than done. In fact, so many of us spend our whole lives planning our perfect first step, imagining how to impress the world with it.
What we need to realize is, There is no life for the sake of life.
You need to take the step today.
Take it now.
And you finally start living.
Because I myself have experienced how hard it is to take this first step, I will share things that I have discovered in my journey:
How to Drop the First Dot
On the first of last month, I made a decision: “I’ll run for 30 minutes every day from now on. I will try it for this month at least.”
Today marks the 33rd day. (You can check out my progress today here.)
This plan was born out of minimal planning.
I haven’t done it before, and I don’t particularly enjoy running. I simply wanted to adopt a healthy habit that I could stick to daily, hopefully leading to some weight loss.
So many of us, when we decide to start running every morning, begin by buying new running shoes, getting running gear, installing fitness tracking apps, and so on. It’s like thinking about which picture to draw and which color pens to use on a birthday card.
But your focus should be on “starting to run,” not how well you run.
To simply go for a run, you don’t need the best breathable, moisture-wicking, and quick-drying gear, nor do you need shoes with the best cushioning, support, and fit.
All you need is to pick up a shirt, pants, and shoes, and start the run. All you need is to pick a pen, any color, and drop that first dot.
You want to spend as little time as possible preparing for this event to happen.
The Enduring Power of the First Dot
Once you’ve completed the first day of running, once the first dot is dropped, you’re faced with a different mission: It’s no longer about starting the journey but now about continuing it.
Furthermore, you also notice that you’re no longer with that feeling of being lost. The first choice you randomly made worked to eliminate the unnecessary choices for you now. As a result, in front of you is a clear path forward, which you’ve just laid out with the first dot.
From now on, let’s focus on continuing your steps.
Your only mission and your ultimate mission is to take one step every day and ensure you don’t miss a single day to do so.
After a few days of running, your vicious cycle starts spinning.
Here’s what you’re going to experience on your journey:
1. You Start Making Plans Around the Event.
Your days begin to revolve around the singular event of a 30-minute run, and you unintentionally start aligning your intentions with making decisions based on this event.
In everything you do, you start asking yourself, “Will this help me go for a run tomorrow? Or will this prevent me from doing so?”
For example, if I have this piece of cake at 10 PM, it will affect my sleep quality, and I will most likely wake up feeling heavy and not wanting to run. Therefore, I will not eat it now; I’ll save the piece for after the run tomorrow.
The first dot prompts a line, one going up, another going downwards, and another straight or curved, constructing a picture of a person’s lips, nose, jaw, and hair. The face is being built in relation to the position of the first dot.
2. You Start Trusting Yourself Throughout the Process.
After a week of consistently completing the run every day, you begin to develop the feeling that this effort is leading you somewhere.
Hey, is that extra fat around my ankles starting to disappear? Is the friction between my thighs lessening? Oh, I feel like I could maintain a faster pace today.
The sense of progress you’re experiencing only serves to strengthen your motivation for the journey.
Once a nose emerges above the first dot, you can’t help but imagine an eye above it, followed by a forehead. Such imagery only fuels your desire to continue, lending rhythm to your stride and grip.
3. You Start Wanting to Prove Yourself.
You’re 20 days into your challenge. You’ve consistently brought yourself to the gym and hopped onto the treadmill to complete the run for 20 consecutive days.
At this point, you find yourself in uncharted territory.
This achievement is significant enough to excite you about exploring how much further you can push yourself. With all the elements needed to complete a face, you feel compelled to finish it.
What you’re doing here is setting a condition where turning back and giving up halfway is not an option. By pushing yourself far enough, you’ve positioned yourself closer to the finish line than to retreat to the starting point, creating a sense of obligation to see through what you’ve begun.
The distance between envisioning grand dreams and actually accomplishing them is often bridged by the simple act of beginning.
Taking that first step, however small, can create momentum and lead to progress. It’s not about having the perfect plan or ideal conditions; it’s about starting, learning, and growing along the way.
Remember, every journey begins with a single step. Don’t let fear of imperfection or over-planning hold you back. Embrace the power of simply starting, and see where it takes you. You’ll be surprised at how much you underestimated its power in shaping the future.
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I hope you found my experience as helpful as I did. See you in my next piece.
