The Fear of Getting Started

Over the last year or so, I’ve come across a handful of modern motivational phrases that have coalesced in my mind into something of a mantra:

Done is better than perfect.

Some is better than none.

Just get started.

We can hide behind perfect. If we’re not sure we can do something perfectly, it’s easier not to do it at all.

Doing nothing guarantees we never make progress.

No progress, ironically, keeps us from getting closer to perfect.

Your initial efforts are always going to be tiny and imperfect. The temptation is to come out the gate with a masterpiece, but it doesn’t work like that. Behind any masterpiece is a whole host of (often unseen) painstaking attempts at progress—including failures and even steps backward.

That shouldn’t scare us from taking steps.

That shouldn’t scare us from trying.

Stumbling is part of the process. There’s no bypassing it. You don’t learn to walk without it. You don’t learn to run without it. Moving forward means accepting and embracing those moments of struggle as an unavoidable vehicle of progress. We can’t let our ultimate goal of perfection scare us from moving toward perfection.

I don’t know what you’ve been putting off because of the gulf between what you’re capable of doing and what you wish you could do. Prayer? Bible study? Meditation? Fasting? Fellowship?

…Regularly updating your blog? (I know, I know, okay?)

The only way to get better at these things is to start doing them. Stumble if you have to, but take the steps to do something.

Done is better than perfect. Some is better than none. Just get started.

Until next time,
Jeremy