Not starting is self selecting failure. A common perspective in the military is to have a “bias for action.” The cautious, security seeking portion of our mind will tell us “No just wait we need to know more before we begin.” That might be a trap and I would encourage you to challenge that hesitation. Do you really need to know more, or are you just letting yourself get distracted?
I’m not advocating for charging blindly into action. If you challenge the thought and find it valid, then you know where to start. But let’s be real for a second. You likely have enough knowledge, skills, resources and abilities to start taking your first steps towards living the life you want to live.
Here is what this looks like in cognitive behavior theory.
You encounter something in the world that triggers a felt need for change. Then you think, “I want to make this change “BUT” I don’t know this, or I don’t have that…” which triggers negative emotions so you switch to solving your new problem. Solving that problem doesn’t really move you towards solving the original problem and now you feel discouraged which leads to more negative thoughts.
What we need to do is break the cycle by challenging or disputing the thoughts that get us off track.
In my family we call these the “ya buts” and I like to say they live in the woods.
