Taking the first step in following your dreams is often the hardest part.
It definitely was for me just trying to get this blog off the ground. I spent years with the idea lying dormant in my mind, every once in awhile lighting up and checking in to remind me that it wasn’t going to leave me alone until I fully turned my attention to it. But, I wasn’t able to fully devote myself, because I’d been tightly grasping onto a limiting belief that convinced me I had to have all the right answers before I could begin.
I can’t even remember how many times I typed the phrase “How do you start a blog?” into Google, although my search history can speak probably speak for itself. I redirected myself to Pinterest boards and Youtube videos, spending hours on end trying to pick out the perfect theme, and browsing content to fill in an “About Me” section (as if a search engine could tell me how to express who I am!).
I didn’t think I had enough information or credentials to run a blog. And I know I for certain I’m not the only who battles this negative mindset, or else you wouldn’t be here reading these words right now.
I want you to take a moment to observe every little thing that surrounds you. That can even be your laptop screen, where you’re reading these very words that formed inside of my head once upon a time ago. You see, nothing would exist if it didn’t begin there first – in the mind.
You wouldn’t have the chair you’re sitting in if one day, centuries ago, the person who created it didn’t think to attach four wooden sticks to a surface. The idea sprouted the mind first. Every single thing in existence did. The original creator of the chair might not have even considered themselves a carpenter. They might not have even worn a title at all, but that didn’t stop them from creating something out of nothing.
Right now, even as I type these words on the page, I don’t consider myself to be a blogger. I barely think of myself as a writer even though I’ve written thousands upon thousands of words on paper. For that reason, one might believe I’m entitled to that label, but the self-conscious side of me is hesitant to agree because I don’t yet have any published works under my name.
Many of us often feel like we need permission to follow our passions, or that we can’t meet our goals because they’re too far out of reach. You may want to become a dancer, but feel as though it’s impossible because you aren’t professionally trained, or “naturally gifted”. But if you’ve ever swayed your body along to the rhythm of one song, you’ve danced. You ARE a dancer. The noun is just a label for the what that is doing the action. We become so caught up in these labels and descriptors, we often fail to take the first step in our journey to becoming the person we want to be.
We give up too soon because we try to grab onto something that hasn’t yet grown to exist. It hasn’t had a chance to expand yet because we haven’t allowed it to. It’s just as easy as putting one finger to one key on the keyboard. If you don’t start with what you have, you’ll have nothing to build off of. Similar to how a chair needs legs to ground it.
Whatever it is that you’re delaying, whatever idea is flashing in the back of your mind while you read this – go dig a space for it. Plant it so it can flourish into the beauty that it will soon become. You don’t need a “how-to” manual or a tutorial video to guide you there. You just have to start. It’s the first action that gives birth to what comes next.
