“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Mark Twain
Slight tangent as I was thinking of what to write with this quote. Every time I see Mark Twain’s name, I flash back to the horrible play we had to perform in high school theater class. “The Man Who Corrupted Hadleyburg.” It’s one of his short stories. And, it’s a tad confusing. But, that’s a story for another day.
I saw this quote and had to add it to my list. You can’t fall behind or get ahead on something you haven’t started. You can say you have a deadline and plan all the steps. You can have the prettiest calendar and all these notebooks full of grand plans. But, until you sit down and actually start working, you can’t really blame anyone but yourself when you don’t meet that deadline.
I used to say I wanted to be a writer. I had all these ideas in notebooks or scrap paper. But, until I actually sat down to work and complete my first manuscript, all those plans and notes meant nothing because I wasn’t putting my plans into action.
This can be applied to anything. Getting into shape, starting a new job, a home project. Unless you are on that stationary bike, or out submitting applications, or at the hardware store loading your cart, none of those goals mean anything and when you’re ‘behind’ on what you wanted to do because you never even started, you can’t blame anyone but yourself.
Now, I know some people are going to read this and say, “But, Carey, what about when life gets in the way?” And, there is a point to that. Yes, life can get in the way. There are family obligations and work. Maybe someone is a student. That may just mean you’ll achieve your goal at a slower rate and there’s nothing wrong with that. It took me a year to complete my first manuscript because I had a severe health issue. But, I had at least started it so it was okay when I was only able to sit at my computer for a couple hours. Or, I missed 5 whole days being in the hospital.
At least for me, once a project is started, I want to keep going. I think about my project all the time and get antsy when I can’t work on it. It’s exciting to have a brand new project, whether that is a novel, a comic book, a music album, launching a store, anything. Yes, it’s scary and I think that fear prevents a lot of people from starting. But, once you sit down at your computer or notebook and you start those few sentences or start sketching that character, or whatever, it’s an adrenaline rush. All of the hope and hype is there before the self doubt that every creator endures. (And if you say you don’t, you’re fooling yourself.)
So, get started. And, if you fall behind, no big deal. If you rocket forward, great! And, tell me your secret.