Have you ever had some wonderful ideas about starting a new business, or changing your career to something more fulfilling, but have trouble actually getting started?
Many of us get stuck at the “ideas and dreaming” phase of pursuing our dream career and when it comes time to start taking action we don’t even know where to start.
There are so many different directions that we could go in, we get overwhelmed with all the possibilities.
We have no idea where to focus first. So we end up doing nothing.
And I get it, because I have totally been there.
The mantra that changed everything for me
For the longest time, I wanted to get the heck out of my career in medicine. I had these vague ideas that I wanted to pursue a path involving travel and personal growth, but I had no idea how to start making money doing any of those things.
I had no idea what my first step should be or where to start and I felt stuck. I did a TON of googling and dreaming about what I wished my life and career could look like… but I didn’t take any REAL action steps towards making it all happen.
Finally I heard this phrase from one of my favorite gurus, Marie Forleo, “Clarity comes from action”, and it all started to click for me.
I realized I couldn’t just sit around hypothetically thinking about what I wanted, I had to get started. I had to start taking messy, imperfect action in the general direction of my desires and gain clarity along the way.
And that’s exactly what I did. I just got started.
First, I thought I wanted to be a travel blogger (probably because I really admired Kristin Addis from Be My Travel Muse and basically wanted her life.
But I didn’t just sit around thinking about being a travel blogger… I took action.
I signed up for Nomadic Matt’s Course and actually DID the course. I set up my travel blog, started writing articles and immersing myself in that community.
I quickly realized… I liked traveling and I liked writing, but I did not enjoy writing about traveling.
I’m not a very detail oriented person, so I did not like providing people with lots of details about how to get from point A to point B. I just wanted to do my own thing and enjoy my traveling experiences for me, without worrying about how to tell someone else how to do it too. Plus, I don’t really enjoy coming up with descriptive adjectives to talk about how beautiful something is.
All of this was AWESOME information and clarity. Clarity that came to me because I took action.
Once I learned this about myself, I was able to pivot and switch directions which is ultimately what led me to becoming a life coach. But without taking those first actions, I don’t think I would have gotten to this place of clarity where I am today.
In this post, I want to talk with you about what is really keeping you from getting started and how to start gaining clarity through action.
What’s really keeping you from getting started?
When you say “I don’t know where to start”, that is not the FULL story. There is actually so much going on beneath the surface.
Because usually, you DO have some idea of where you could start.
The real problem is, you don’t know the FIRST step that could lead you seamlessly to the last step.
You don’t know every single point of action along the way that would get you to your goal and that element of the unknown can be pretty scary.
And that is what is keeping you from getting started.
It is not that “you don’t know where to start”, but actually that you are scared.
You are scared of starting somewhere, getting it wrong and then having to start all over again.
You are scared of taking a wrong turn or making a bad decision.
You are scared of wasting time and you are scared of the unknown.
And let me reassure you, it’s totally normal to be scared.
I’ve been scared of the unknown my whole life, and I honestly think that fear of the unknown is partly why I pursued medicine in the first place.
A career in medicine is stable and full of security. There isn’t much room to take wrong turns or make bad decisions. You pretty much just follow the path that is already laid out for you from Medical school > Residency > Fellowship > Attending/ Private Practice.
But, when we are following our intuition and pursuing our purpose, it doesn’t always work like that. We don’t usually get a 10 year life plan all laid out. We get only our next right action. In my experience the best we can do is identify our next right action, do it, and then reflect on what we learned.
Identifying your next right action
Here are some questions to reflect on to identify your next right step when you are feeling lost or stuck.
What is that thing you’ve been putting off doing that you know you need to do?
What is that action that keeps coming up for you? That sits in the back of your mind?
Is there anything where you keep saying “I’ve been meaning to do this”?
At the end of the day, what are you kicking yourself for NOT doing?
Some other things I do to get in touch with my next right action are pray and meditate.
Prayer is an excellent tool for surrender. It doesn’t matter who or what you pray to or how you do it. The act of praying itself is a surrender. It means you are letting go of control and you are opening yourself up to receiving guidance.
My prayers look a little something like this “Please help me to figure out what to do here because I am feeling a little lost. Please guide me to my next right step and open up my heart and mind to receive your guidance.”
Meditating is also helpful. Before I meditate I set my intention of being guided to my next right step. Then I sit in silence for 10 or 15 minutes connecting to my breath. During that time, I don’t try to think about an answer. I don’t even expect an answer. I just sit there and try to cultivate silence and connection to my physical body.
I don’t always hear an answer right away, but the more often I meditate the more I am creating the space and silence to receive answers.
Clarity through action
Once you’ve identified your next right step, it’s time to take action. Get out there and actually DO THE THING and then pause for a moment to ask some reflection questions.
With each step you can ask yourself questions like…
What did I learn here about what I like? About what I don’t like? About what’s working and what’s not working?
What did I learn about myself and this path that I am on? Is this still something I want to pursue?
If so, what is my next right step?
And with those questions and with this process you will take action, gain clarity and then repeat. With this messy, imperfect action you will gradually work your way into your dream career!
So whenever you catch yourself saying “I don’t know where to start”, I hope you now remember this:
It doesn’t matter at all WHERE you start, it just matters THAT you start.
The perfectionist in us doesn’t want to waste time or make a mistake or take a single step in the wrong direction. We want to knock it out of the park on the first try.
So we sit around brainstorming and planning it all out, without ever really taking action. We wait to get started until we can finish the whole plan and get every single detail figured out.
But when we approach life this way… we end up staying stuck.
If you want to find what makes you truly happy and find a way to make money doing that thing… here are some things you have to accept.
- You will take a wrong step
- You will waste time
- You will fail
- You will get it wrong
And that’s allllll part of it.
You have to be willing to get it wrong, if you ever want to get it right. You have to be willing to look stupid. To make a mess of things.
And it’s only in that process and through those wrong steps that you will learn what the right steps are.
So get out there and get started with your messy imperfect action and allow yourself to figure it out along the way!
XO, Coach Chels
