Now would be a good time to start HAVING what you want.

If there’s something you really, really want to do, start right now.   Don’t make any excuses.  Simply start. Take action today  Start as small as you must. 

You may have no idea how important it is for you to follow your authentic dreams as a priority.  This does not mean you have to throw away your entire life structure.  But you do have to incorporate the desires of your true self.

I spoke to a woman the other day who cannot save money for retirement because of an ongoing family expense.  “Why not start putting something in your 403B?” I asked,  “You wouldn’t miss $50 dollars a week.”  Her answer was at that rate, it wouldn’t be enough to retire.  Seriously a $50 contribution will add up way faster than no contribution at all!

A client who wanted to start a business felt she didn’t have time with her current job. After an hour of coaching on using baby steps, she decided not to wait.  She saw a way to start with the time she had and started her business just weeks later, in her after-work hours.  In another few weeks, she was breaking even!   Before she started, she thought she was far from achieving her goal.

Wanting to get started on something creates inertia.  It contributes to feeling incomplete.  I’d like to do that, but I don’t think I can.  On the other hand, you can say, “I am saving for retirement,” even if you only save $5 a week.  With only one customer, you have started a business. 

Once started, you tell yourself a story about what you are doing and stop telling the story of what you cannot do.  You build feelings of accomplishment.  You also learn things about your goal and course corrections are relatively easy at this starting point.

Once started, you can do more of the same, which is much easier than doing something for the first time.

Once started, you can tell quite quickly whether that course of action will be satisfying.  If it IS satisfying, then you can say “I am doing what I love” even if its only a little bit of what you love.

What keeps us from starting?  Usually, it’s a form of perfectionism.  You are never ready.  You don’t have enough extra income.  You haven’t written your class content.  You are not yet an expert on keeping chickens, raising beagles, and investing money.

This keeps you in a holding pattern.  Building an online course does not start a business.  You are not in business until you have customers.  Waiting to save for retirement does not build any kind of IRA, but a minimum investment does!

I recommend Strategic Shortcuts.  The strategic shortcut involves starting from the other end; that is the end product.  If you find a client first,  you’ll figure out what to do to help them.  If you get a coop and put a couple of chickens in it, you’ll soon learn how to feed them and maintain their space.  If you put $5 away with compound interest, you’ll soon have more money than you started with.  A month of online dating will make it very clear that you don’t need to get in shape first.

Start now.