"If you start something, you have to finish it. People will take you more seriously, and you will be satisfied by the person you become." This deceptively simple piece of advice has had probably the biggest impact for me in this year thus far. I was given this piece of advice by two people thus far; my karate instructor and my manager. Both were influential in me moving forward, and chasing after my side projects and further knowledge for my actual job as much as I have thus far.
When you are young and energetic and ambitious, the theme seems to be to put many things on your shoulders, to prepare yourself for greatness. The US schooling system has taught us a lot about dreaming, but I would argue that it hasn't taught us nearly as much about planning, or about taking the first steps into putting dreaming into practice. In your twenties, you are expected to stumble upon that information on your own. And so it goes.
The catalyst for all of this was one morning, when I was feeling very undisciplined and unmotivated for the future. I was looking online for articles to help me with this conundrum; how in the world would I take that first step?
An article I found said to do one thing, a simple thing, every day for 30 days, and a year. I chose the hardest thing on the list because I'm no slouch, (that's what I told myself), and the hardest thing on the list was to take a cold shower every day for a year.
I was not accustomed to taking cold showers, so this came a shock to my system. Every day, I would get up in the morning, and dread taking steps into my shower. Some days, I wouldn't even want the water to come. It was refreshing for sure, but it wasn't relaxing. Your breathing changes when you take a cold shower, it is what your body does adjust. So when I stepped out, I was awake alright, I stopped drinking coffee. I still don't drink coffee.
It was such a small thing. But it was something I believed strongly in. Feeling uncomfortable in the present to be better in the future.
After the year was over, I started taking contrast showers, which means the water is lukewarm/warm in the beginning of the shower, but the last 2-3 minutes is absolutely freezing. I have found it to be the healthiest thing to do for my skin, because warm water opens up pores, allowing you to clean thoroughly, and cold water closes them from further dirt/debris.
But this undertaking gave me much more confidence to take bigger projects, like teaching karate class every Saturday morning, or writing two Steemit articles a week. Little by little, the things I am doing are having more direct value in the world, and I can see it clearly.
For many people, the quality of finishing what you start comes naturally. That's great! Good for those people. But regular people like me need baby steps in everything. By making the issue at hand incremental, I was able to solve bigger problems that I ever dreamed of.
If you choose projects that are close to your heart to work on, it is not only the end result that is important, but every step in between. The process of teaching people karate has not just had an impact on my karate and helped me to nurture the art form in other people, but it has also forced to watch videos and find ways to teach complicated topics in simple ways. The process of writing two Steemit articles has not only allowed me to find a new audience for my writing and improve my writing, but it has also made me some friends and made me want to pursue creating a inclusive, interesting digital art magazine for people who are outsiders.
I am proud of the progress I have made so far, but there is still much more to be done, as I feel that I am just beginning to understand and appreciate what it takes to be committed to something.
So in short, start small, but dream big. See things end to end until the product is delivered. Whether the product is a performance, a project, or a relationship, see it through until it is out of your hands for good. And make sure that the days you didn't want to go through with it, you still went through with it. It is those days that will increase your confidence, and add the transformative edge to your character.
Everyone will do something they love when they want to. But it takes true character to have the foresight to see bad days through, and it is what separates the good people in the world from the great people.
Be the great person. I believe in you.
