Sir Isaac Newton observed that an object at rest stays at rest until a force acts upon it. He also pointed out the opposite: An object in motion stays in motion until a force acts upon it. In both cases, a force is needed to effect change. This is one of his three laws of motion, but it can be applied to human motivation. Here are three personal examples about how getting started is the hardest part of any journey.
This morning, I woke up to the sound of rain. The cool air and the steady sound of rainfall made for ideal sleeping conditions. In other words, it was the perfect condition to sleep in, which I was tempted to do. However, I have been training for the eventual return of my hockey season and I have been building my strength and cardio. Today was cardio day, which meant getting some sprints and a 5k done. Despite me completing my runs regularly, I actually don’t enjoy the activity all that much, but I am aware what happens when you try to play a high intensity sport without a proper level of aerobic and anaerobic capacity – the results are never pretty! You may be wondering, “did he do the run?”. The answer is yes, but with great mental gymnastics to justify not doing it. What helped me in the end was putting on my shorts and sneakers. Once I was dressed, I had no more excuses.
I have seen similar levels of procrastination in my academic coaching career. Over the course of a dozen years of working with high school and college students, I have learned that they all want to do well, but they often hit the same barriers. They can’t seem to stick to a steady study schedule or they fall victim to procrastination. They understand that they need to do the work to get the grades, but getting started is always the hardest part. For my most challenging students, I always set the bar ridiculously low. So low, in fact, that if they didn’t do it, it would mean that they had no interest in succeeding at all. Some examples include writing one sentence, reading one page, or working on an assignment for 5 minutes. The idea is not about achieving any of those objectives in particular, but more about getting students into a position to make the tiniest of effort – inevitably, they get themselves started!
My final example is this very post. About 2 years ago, I co-founded Healthy Learning MTL with the enthusiasm of providing resources and knowledge to the general community regarding education and wellness. Although I am proud of what has been accomplished in that time, creating content has become a challenge. In fact, I have had dozens of ideas for posts, but I rarely sat down to flesh them out. I’m using this post as an example of the value of getting started. The goal is to share some wisdom with the reader, but also to get myself back into a regular pattern of creating content. I hope that you find some inspiration to do something similar.
Whatever it is that you do or plan to do, getting started is the hardest part, but also the best way to give yourself momentum. Make a plan, create a routine, or make a ridiculously easy micro-goal to get you started toward achieving something bigger.
If you identify at all with this struggle, please leave a comment or write me an email at healthylearningmtl@gmail.com about how you might overcome similar challenges. Until next time!
Healthy Learning MTL 