The start is not always the beginning

Have you ever arrived somewhere and the conditions were not as expected? 

Have you gone to start something and didn’t have everything you needed?

Face with this situation we generally do one of two things:

We suck it up and start where we are at, finding the determination and discipline to do whatever it takes, or

As Blair Singer coins it, our Little Voice wins the argument in our head and we ‘choose’ to turn around, go home, do something else, watch TV, shut down instead of talk, have a drink, fill in the blank with your situation...

It was surprising how many people had the same idea as me yesterday—start the hike early and avoid the people traffic and parking challenge. If it wasn’t for 2 fitness centers doing group hikes, the rest of us might’ve had a chance.

Anyway, putting that ‘interpretation’ of the situation aside, I had to park 1.4 km away from the start of the hike. I guess you could say this is a little bit like people complaining about parking too far away from the gym… WTF! What does that say about their commitment?

What does almost turning around and going back home yesterday saying about my commitment? Fortunately I was present enough to observe what my little voice was trying to do and so I put my foot down. 

I am sure you know what happens when we let one decision like this slide the wrong way. All of a sudden, we are making excuses for lots of decisions.

Eckhart Tolle teaches us about ‘the watcher’— the concept that we are not our minds, and that we can in fact watch our minds. Once we are self-aware enough, we can observe our thinking and interrupt the decision-making process.

Sometimes we need to start before the beginning. Be it walking to the gym or doing some reading before a class or cleaning the kitchen before we can cook (this is the part where my wife chokes because apparently I do neither of those things🙄). 

We may not always be as prepared as we would like to be, but if we don’t make a start from where we are at then we will never arrive at the finish.

#whateverittakes #whatsimportantnow #discipline #makeastart #getstartednow #dontchickenout #attitudeiseverything #littlevoicemastery #coachinglife #mindpower #thewatcher #ifitsworthitworkit