Getting Going

Oct 18, 2024

The moment an idea catches you, there's an indescribable feeling of enthusiasm, dreams, inspiration, and drive. You start vividly envisioning all the things that could be created if you were to pursue the path that this idea has opened in your mind.

After contemplating this idea that "found you" for a while, things start to become clearer, and an inner voice tells you that the time to act is now. But then, at this very moment, as this thought—holding energy in your brain and representing unrealized potential—is about to transition into the real world through your actions, this wave stops for many.

The moment the idea starts getting real—as you consider the first actual steps you might take—is the moment resistance begins to show. Self-doubt, fear of failure, lack of trust in your abilities, overthinking. And most of the time, the drive of your idea drops off and comes to a halt.

This happens to everyone many times in their life. Ideas are so fragile that the moment you want to connect them to your real world, they die off because you weren't prepared to handle the idea in the way it requires.

I find myself in this position often: struggling to move from idea to first action. The status quo feels so comfortable, certain, and safe. If I were to boil down what the primary problem is whenever an idea dies, it's not being sure where and how to start.

All the theories, frameworks, and knowledge that hold in a constrained environment don't help once you open yourself up to an ambiguous, uncertain path.

The best answer I've found to this is: just get going. It doesn't matter whether you take the "right" first step or not. What does "right" even mean in this ambiguous, uncertain context? It doesn't matter that you don't have all the answers figured out, or whether you can present a clear plan for the next weeks or months.

The only thing that matters is that you take the first, real step. And this needs to be real action. Preparing to act is not acting. It needs to be a real action toward making your idea a reality.

What's so magical about this first, real action is that everything becomes easier after this. You gain new perspectives, new ideas, new experiences, new angles—all from acting, not from thinking about acting. If you manage to get going, the journey will unfold in ways you cannot see today, with all the bumps and wins along the road. But getting going is all that matters. The rest will settle.

I believe everyone has unique potential they can bring out to do something useful for the world. It may not be the first idea you have, but the most authentic idea will find its way to you once you get going. Your potential is too valuable to the world to let it die by not taking real actions on your ideas. The time is now, and the journey that's to come if you trust yourself and get going is the greatest journey of your lifetime.