“Well, Reed, It’s Never Going to Get Any Easier…”
It’s 3:15pm on Monday, June 22.
I just finished a client call early and I have about 75 minutes left in my work day.
My entire day has felt like this: odd little blocks of time stacked around meetings that I needed to be present for.
At the start of each block of time, I felt absolutely paralyzed.
Despite having a ton of things on my to-do list, I just didn’t know where to begin.
All day I’ve had that stuck feeling.
Yesterday for Father’s Day, I treated myself to a 2-mile swim at Lake Harriet before the boys got up.
The weather was perfect: 70 degrees, sun out, and no wind.
It was my first open water swim of the summer.
I was excited to jump in.
As I was walking the dock, a fisherman goes, “water’s a little chilly for a swim, no?”
The seed of resistance was planted
I stood at the end of the dock for a good 5 minutes.
“Well, Reed, it’s never going to get any easier. 3…2…1…”
Despite feeling stuck all day, each time I simply opened up a task that I needed to make progress on.
I didn’t know where I would take the task or how much of the task would get done.
But, in each case—during each odd block of time—I was able to make significant progress.
Emails sent.
Proposals created.
Participants Guides completed.
“Well, Reed, it’s never going to get any easier. 3…2…1…”
And, here I am about 45 minutes later wrapping up a bit of writing.
45 minutes ago, I was completely stuck.
And then I looked at my wall and read one of my life precepts:
Just start. Getting over inertia is the hardest part. Once you start, don’t quit—momentum is the best mind-altering drug.
And that’s all I did.
Started.
And didn’t quit.
Same with the swim yesterday.
“3…2..1…”
Splash.
About 50 minutes later I was done and felt on top of the world.
I don’t feel so bad right now either.
Stuck?
Just start.
Getting over inertia is the hardest part.
Once you start, don’t quit—momentum is the best mind-altering drug.
Onward.