Finding Reason: The will to Start

I decided to divide this post into three episodes. I will focus on Starting, Consistency, and Breakthrough.

My name is Daniel Abayomi, and I’m a designer obsessed with anything carefully thought out and that works. I’m interested in a broad spectrum of things — from grand concepts to tiny details.

Let’s begin with a thought exercise. Imagine I ask you: “Do you know what’s expected of yourself right now and what are your top three priorities?” It would take a hefty dose of self-awareness to answer that. This question serves as a great primer for how we use our time. Given that the passing of time is a constant we can’t control, our power lies in how we choose to spend it. I like to think of this in three ways — Existing, Learning, and Doing. It’s interesting to see how these three are interdependent. The not-so-secret sauce that makes the whole try worthwhile is will — intention and action.

As human beings, we naturally have the will to solve problems. It’s only logical — we’re all we have. A perfect example of this is babies — their initial attempts to walk showcase this innate problem-solving ability. When we share the responsibility of problem-solving with every individual on Earth, it evolves into a powerful statement: we should all be motivated to solve problems, even if the problem is our ineptitude to get started.

In his masterpiece, “The Alchemist,” Paulo Coelho beautifully illustrates that:

“when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

Early problem exploration has led to numerous innovations, successful career transitions, and decisions — some turning out well, others not so much. The incentive is that you can never predict the outcome, and letting doubt and inaction take the lead is not a worthy alternative.

If you consider yourself a rational person and wonder why you haven’t started something yet. Your response may seem evident of your limitations rather than your ability. It all seemed so simple in your mind. But now that it’s time to put your ideas into action, the excitement starts to fade away. You begin to realize just how much work is involved in making it happen. Or perhaps you haven’t even fully evaluated what it’ll take yet. It’s easy to suggest solutions when you don’t have a deep understanding of the problem at hand. When a problem isn’t well understood, proposed solutions often create new problems. And our failure often stems from the fact that we’re not thinking small enough.

Can thinking small motivate us to start? I think so. And here’s how.

Starting small, confidently

The beauty of doing small things lies in our ability to do a lot of them. Most big steps often start from small, smart steps. If I commit to writing just one word every day, it accumulates to 365 words a year. Think about that for a moment. It sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? What’s more likely is that when I write one word, I think: “I guess I could write one more… one more… one more…” I will inevitably write more.

The key is to start small and set achievable goals. I will complete this task that won’t require much from me. It’s best to judge both your initial efforts and accomplishments by a lower standard. Accept that change doesn’t happen overnight. If you’re overwhelmed while starting small, you may not be starting small enough.

One of the biggest reasons we struggle is because our actions are too audacious. Also, the weight of denial often comes with age and experience. They can make it hard to accept new beginnings. It’s funny because experience is our best teacher and should show us the importance of starting small. However, if we want to progress, we must learn to discount this. Remember that small things are unlimited. One truth about small things is that they tend to offer growth opportunities. Do something that helps you achieve small wins faster without too much commitment.

And, of course, confidence is a good exponent to add to your habits. It helps you to keep yourself accountable. Understanding that significant progress often begins with small steps is crucial. It becomes an asset that shields you from external skepticism and internal doubts.

Staying ambitious — sustainable, intentional growth

Assuming that we decide to move forward with our ambition and start, there will next be a period of gestation in which it takes form. Fostering a healthy level of ambition is not easy, and amidst so much uncertainty, it may seem like a low priority. Because ambition is a vital resource, we tend to either recklessly overindulge it, or refrain from it for fear of failure. But where does ambition come from? It starts with an ability to believe. For me, I like to work on my dreams and pursue them. And I like to fulfill them. No matter how small.

A simple trick I’ve learned to stay on track is to focus less on where you are and more on the “rate of return”. Applying what you’ve learned to practical situations. If you feel like you’re not improving in any way, then perhaps you could do something else. Sometimes, you need to do something you have an aptitude for, something that allows you to do your best work. This might involve breaking down the goal into smaller, achievable steps.

Focusing on the rate of return is advisable. Because every milestone is the start of something, it’s important to note this to avoid falling into the illusion of progress. As renowned psychologist Anders Ericsson puts it in his book Peak: We only learn until we feel like we’ve hit a “good enough” point. As soon as we feel like we’re good enough (subconsciously or consciously) we stop improving.

Consistent thoughtfulness is the foundation for potentially being ambitious. The idea that engaging in a sufficient amount of practice leads to maximal performance, regardless of the structure of that practice, can be misleading. In short, ambition is not an end goal, but, rather, the ability to cultivate ambition is the goal. And as nearly as I can tell, measuring the rate of return is a preliminary step towards cultivating a progressive ambition.

What does it mean to cultivate ambition? From what I think, it’s partly driven by the activity itself, wanting to do more and starting it; a regard for time; and the power of compounding inputs. Time has the power to turn small habits into incredible results, but you need to develop a healthy respect for it. This implies putting it to good use.

Compounding input is a system that allows you to grow faster by earning a return on your past inputs, over time. But it depends on your rate of return. With these inputs, we can use a rule of thumb similar to “The Rule of 72” used in finance. It comprises noticing any change in value of your investment.

Although it’s challenging to quantify the value in this context, as they aren’t numerical. This should ideally assist you in setting targets. Just assume a reasonable rate of return for planning. Then develop deliberate efforts and a rewarding system. What you need is small, controlled, and consistent action.

The importance of people

To make things easier, surround yourself with helpful people and ask for their assistance. It can be overwhelming to rely solely on your own discipline to keep going and not get discouraged in the beginning. This isn’t to say you need just one or the other. You need a balance of both, and perhaps even more of your sheer discipline than relying on people who motivate you to start. Many people misunderstand the purpose of accountability partners. They delegate their willpower to others in exchange for strict discipline. This is definitely insufficient. And I believe there are better frameworks that you can benefit from.

When you evaluate progress on a goal, compare the value you create to the effort you put in. It can be hard to do this if your definition of effort is unclear. Typically, the objective of your goal is not to “do your best.” It’s to complete it. And if asking for help is the most effective way to achieve it, then that’s what you should do. We are each fully rational about our behaviors, habits, and goals. Most people may not think it’s easy to go from point A to point B, but they still think that that’s what they need to do. I need to earn more money. I want to start learning X so I can get a new job.

Let’s say you were to improve your understanding of the environmental influences that affect your goal. Mediated through your participation in different activities. And all the steps required to reach your goal are carefully defined. Have you ever wondered why you might still struggle?

This is where I think you can leverage people. Here’s a simple framework I think you can use:

As you begin pursuing your goals, there are three key aspects to keep an eye on:

• Improving your current effort rate
• Decreasing the risk of regression
• Increasing future growth rate to achieve intended outcomes

We then contrast deliberate effort with assessing how people can help. It is often instructive to find people who are at similar crossroads as you. People trying to do new things, like you. You all want your chances at success to grow at a constant rate in perpetuity. That’s usually the initial goal. I believe that’s why accountability partners exist. It’s also helpful to have different partners at different stages of your journey. This is not a relationship advice! You don’t have to find people who are doing the same thing as you. But even if you do, people usually have different goals. What you want is to gain and improve skills from other activities, which may lead to learning indirectly.

If we take a step back and view goals as a collection of problems, we can approach them with a more refined mindset. Assuming you have already established the necessary components discussed so far but still struggle to find the will to start. Then what could be missing? It might be beneficial to revisit this note.

Wishing you all the best.