Have you ever thought of something that seemed so great in your head, but you had no idea where to begin? Do you have a dream of being a writer, designer, or entrepreneur but never seem to make progress? Does your lack of progress lead to shame and embarrassment, making it even harder to get started in the future?
You are not alone. We all feel the resistance to starting new projects and following our dreams. This article will help you overcome that resistance, but first we need to understand why getting started is so hard.
Why is Getting Started so Hard?
I believe getting started is difficult for three primary reasons:
Our personal identity is tied up in our idea and putting that idea onto paper exposes it to criticism.
Our idea is still fuzzy and getting started requires us to answer the difficult questions of implementation.
It is difficult to commit to something new and uncertain when we have so many other things on our plate.
All of these reasons are fundamentally tied to fear and uncertainty.
Pushing through this fear and bringing your ideas to life is never easy. Don't be ashamed of feeling this resistance! Even those of us with years of experience and success still face these challenges everyday. Knowing that you aren't alone is the first step. Here are 3 additional tips that can help you get started following your dreams.
How to Get Started
1. Start Small
Don’t try to implement your “Big Idea” all at once. Try to think of the smallest part of your idea and test that first. With my deckbuilding game Ascension, I first wanted to test the idea of a rotating set of available cards (as opposed to the fixed availability in a game like Dominion.
To test this, my first step was to shuffle up a set of Dominion cards and play the game that way. I saw the potential in a randomized set of cards even as I noticed the many issues with this execution. Once I had the core idea tested, I could move on to the more work-intensive phase of developing my own set of cards and rules. Trying to tackle too much at once leads to a feeling of overwhelm. Big thinking starts small.
2. Accept Imperfection
Don’t expect your first iteration to be good. It won’t be. Just do the minimum needed to test the smallest part of your idea. You can always come back and refine later. Lowering your standards for the initial design phase will allow you to move forward without risking your ego. Crappy first drafts are the hallmark of good writing, and crappy first prototypes are the hallmark of good design. Done is better than perfect.
3. Set a Deadline
Deadlines are magical. Deadlines force you to focus on the essential and commit to getting things done. Think about how efficiently you work when you are about to leave for vacation. Your productivity sky-rockets because you know you have to get things done and are excited about the end result. It is easy to let a “side project” like designing a game or writing a novel constantly slip in favor of more pressing demands. Set a reasonable but aggressive deadline and stick to it.
It can be very helpful to tell other people about your deadline to increase the pressure (e.g. set up a game night in two weeks with some friends to test your first prototype, or commit to posting a chapter a week of your book here on steemit).
I won’t lie to you. Even with the above tips, getting started is still going to be difficult. In fact, it is this very challenge that makes the project worth doing! Completing a creative project brings with it its own rewards even if it isn’t the Next Big Thing. You learn from everything you do and you get to express yourself (flaws and all) with each project you complete.
Be bold, take risks and have fun! Succeed or fail, you will be in good company.