Ready To Start.

Paraphrasing the brilliant Arcade Fire song so you know it’s going to be good, today I want to talk about plans, and how to set them into action. I would also like to say that this advice is as just as much for me as it is for you.

I like ‘get up and go’ people. I like morning people. They come from where I come from, they’ve got drive, they see each day as the chance to put the gears into motion, they’re golden. I like trying to inspire people to go and do the things they really want, I enjoy this because it’s what I’m trying to do, I’m trying to finish my first novel, I’m working on a bunch of other projects, I’m holding down a full time office job while living my life as well.

It is my belief that if you really want to start something, whether that be quitting smoking, training for a marathon, writing, securing a new job, going travelling, then the first step is being ready to start. You need to commit to it, you need to know that you can see it through and this can only come from actually planning the thing, I count this as starting it. I’ll give examples:
I recently dragged a friend into signing up for the 2013 London marathon ballot with me. We met up for a couple of beers on Tuesday and he smoked no less than five cigarettes in the two hours we were sat together.
‘When are you going to quit smoking?’ I said, anxious of to the fact we are supposed to be running 26.2 miles together within a year.
‘When I start training’ he replied.
What annoyed me about this is that it will continue indefinitely and not just because I know him and his behaviours but because it’s something you see time and time again, I’ve seen it reflected back at me on countless occasions because I was perfectly guilty of it, and it’s a subject discussed at length in my novel, about my procrastination and my inability to commit. I just look at the way others go about things and think there is no way that is going to work for you.
Another example:
I work with someone who is really not happy with their job. This person (so I don’t disclose gender and endanger them) just kept griping to me about it, without having made the move to put their CV about, to apply for anything, to even search, and yet they sat there day in, day out, just being moody, and bringing me down with them. Luckily this person has finally heeded my constant advice and is on the hunt now.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is that if you keep saying you’re going to, it doesn’t actually mean a thing, it’s just syllables, the best thing you can do is be ready to start.