What is the easy part of the practice you are trying to add to your life?
Or what would an easy version of it look like?
Often, when we decide on a goal we think of the big picture, the end result. We think we need to have all the details figured out in advance, that we need to know precisely what we are planning to do and all of the factors that will contribute towards getting it done.
And, yeah, it can be very helpful to know some or all of those things.
But you don’t need all of those things to get started.
You can, for example, just start with what feels easy.
That’s the advice I give my coaching clients when they are having trouble getting a writing project started.
You don’t write a book (or a short story or a piece of flash fiction) by having everything worked out in your head and then splashing it onto the paper in a fell swoop of genius.
Instead of relying on being a writing genius, writers have to find a way of getting that first thing onto the paper or the rest of it will never get done.
And once we find some part of writing that feels doable, an ‘easy part’ then we have a way into our project.
Yes, there will come a time when the hard parts will have to be done but there is no inherent virtue in doing the hardest bits first.*
The only way to get something written is to find a way to get started.
Similarly, the only way to add a new practice to your life is to find a way to get started.
For some, that will involve an elaborate and detailed plan, maybe even a spreadsheet.
For others, it will involve finding something that feels doable and working from there.
BOTH WAYS COUNT.
In fact, any process that helps you to get started counts.
Any extra movement (or extra stillness, if meditation is your goal) will be helpful for you.
Any progress in the direction you want to go will help get you there.
So, it is perfectly ok to find something easy and start there.
Maybe you can’t sit in meditation quite yet but you can stand at your kitchen counter and slowly make deliberate lines on paper for 2 or 3 minutes. Maybe those lines aren’t exactly meditation but they are mindful and they are kind of meditative. That sounds like a step in the direction you want to go, doesn’t it?
Maybe you want to walk for 20 minutes a day but you haven’t been able to get yourself out the door for one reason or another. You can walk in place in your living room while you watch a fun video. It doesn’t have to be for 20 minutes, you can start with a video from Youtbe shorts and build your way up. That doesn’t seem particularly intimidating, does it?
Maybe you can’t roll out your yoga mat at this point but perhaps you could do some yoga-like breaths while stretching your arms overhead in your office chair. Or maybe you can make ‘cactus arms’ against a door frame and lean forward to stretch the muscles in your chest. That seems pretty doable, right?
Yes, it’s true that these small practices won’t instantly turn you into a superfit athlete but you know what those practices WILL do?
They’ll make it easier for you to get started.
And that’s the first step toward success.
You can always add to your practice once you’re ready but only if you have found a way to start.
So, Team, give some thought what feels easy for you about your practice and figure out how to get started, how to make your practice easy to do on tricky days, how to make the next step feel doable.
And here are a bunch of gold stars for your efforts – small stars to represent your efforts adding up.
Be kind to yourself while you figure things out, pretty please!
*Unless the challenge of starting with the hard part has appeal for you, of course – do what works for you!
