How to start so you can keep going

[00:00:00] You are listening to the Daily Five, an experimental podcast by Aurooba, where I talk about something for five minutes. So let's get to it, shall we?

[00:00:16] I was sitting on the sofa yesterday staring at the gym area in my basement and I said out loud to my spouse, I want to work out, I just can't seem to get started. And he said to me, just do it, you can do it. And I stared at the gym area for another like five minutes and then I stood up and then I stared at the gym equipment for another like few minutes.

[00:00:49] And then finally I was like, okay, I'm gonna go get my headphones and I'm going to go do this, and then I did. And once I got started, not only was I glad that [00:01:00] I had started, it was really easy to keep going. The point I'm trying to make here is that it's really hard to get started. It's really hard to make yourself do something when there's no external urgency.

[00:01:16] Right? I've covered this in a past episode too, but it's really easy to keep doing what you're already doing. Sometimes maybe not really easy, but it's certainly easier than starting something new. So when we do wanna start something new, how can we get ourselves to do it? Especially when there is no external motivator and it's just something we wanna do.

[00:01:47] And I'm remembering this post from Leo Babauta. I don't know if I'm saying his last name correctly, but that's always how I've said it in my head [00:02:00] Anyway, the author of Zen Habits, back when it was not as simple a blog, like he had just started and he was trying to become a better person and get healthier, et cetera.

[00:02:14] Oh my goodness, that was so long ago. And in one of his posts where he sort of helps people get started with running. He said, you know, on the very first day, only put your shoes on and go outside on the second day, put your shoes on and walk or run for one minute, one minute, and then come back in. The reason he said that is because it's really easy or it's comparatively easy to convince ourselves to do a tiny amount of something rather than

[00:02:50] Say, oh, I'm gonna go run for half an hour, or, oh, I'm gonna go work out and do this entire gym session. And then [00:03:00] sometimes you wanna keep going or you'll be like, oh, well I'm already here. I might as well finish. Or I might as well do this other thing too. I mean, how many times did it happened to you, when you clean something right?

[00:03:12] You'll say, oh, I'm only gonna clean four dishes and then you realize, well, it's only another four. Let me just take care of it, finish it, you know, because it's easier to keep going than to start. So when I was looking at that gym equipment, telling myself that I wanna work out, what was the one thing I could do towards that goal, that thing that I wanted to do, that task,

[00:03:43] that would be considered forward movement. In my case, it was to stand up, get off the couch, just stand up. So that is what I did. Then once I did that, it was easy to say, okay, well in order to go to [00:04:00] the gym, I need to get my headphones. So then I went in and got my headphones and I'm like, well, I have my headphones, I'm standing up.

[00:04:09] I might as well work out, but if I don't want to, I can stop after like one rep. Sometimes that's an easy way to convince yourself. Once I was there, I was enjoying it, and so I kept going. So when you need to start something, think about just what the very next step is and just do that. Don't worry about the rest.

[00:04:34] When you've done that one step, think about the next step, and hopefully you'll be able to get started. And then be able to keep going. Thanks for listening. Talk to you tomorrow.