Push once, chase forever

Just Start - the message I ignored for too long

A backpacking trip to Joshua Tree, California, USA, 2022.

You know the image of the little man pushing a giant boulder up a hill, and you know what it resembles. When I had this recent idea to write one new essay each day, I thought this is how it would feel - a constant battle.

Fight the Resistance.
Force myself to write.
The struggle is real.

But how it feels is not like that at all.

It's actually an inversion of this image. Rather than man pushes boulder uphill, it is man chases boulder downhill.

The boulder sat on top of a mountain. Resting on flat ground, untouched by all of humanity and the creatures that came before us weirdos.

Prior to my new essay-a-day project, I sat and stared at this boulder - for years.
Infinite ideas came and went, but I did no work.
I never pushed the boulder.

Sometimes I talked to it.
Other times I hid from it.
So there it sat, wishing and waiting for me to set it free.

The hardest part, without question, was simply deciding to push the boulder. Since I made that choice, I've been following it downhill with a smile.

I'm excited to find time each day to write for a few hours. Sometimes I write all day. My list of rough drafts is lengthy. My list of ideas is even longer, and it continues to grow.

Getting started is no longer a problem for me. I just have to keep chasing the boulder. The real problem starts when I stop running downhill. The boulder will keep rolling without me, and I'll lose it for good. It might even find another curious wanderer, another runner. But that's my boulder, and I'm not giving it up without a fight.

You know what you've been avoiding.
You spend time thinking about it, reading about it, talking to your friends about it.
You do everything except the thing.

"I have more to learn. I'm not ready yet."

This state of inaction contains only downsides.
It fuels you with doubt, worry, hesitation and fear.
Inaction is a deceitful form of negativity that feels like caution.

I don't know how many times I heard this message, "Just start. Take action."

Every voice preaching this was speaking directly to me, but I didn't buy it. I've read these words in one form or another hundreds of times.

I feel like the world's greatest fool. Now that I finally started, I have proof that it works. It really is that simple. Why wasn't I listening?

You have all the motivation you'll ever need. You are prepared to start. Nobody will stop you from doing more research when you need to.

You're mediocre, until you become better.
You do nothing, until you do something.

Action comes before motivation. You have to lead with action. If you're the type of person that needs to think it, feel it, believe it, learn it and be motivated before you start, the hesitation will crush you before you make moves.

The beauty of the man-chasing-boulder analogy is this: You push once, it rolls down the hill, and the momentum carries it up the next mountain. All you have to do is follow it.

Once you make the first move, you'll make the second move, and the third.
Push the boulder down the hill, and you'll start running like hell.

Don't believe me? Test it out for yourself.

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