You Have to Hit Play — Just Start
I’ve been watching the cursor blink on this screen for way too long.
It’s a new year and I’ve put pressure on myself to have something profound to say.
Oh, how pressure can stifle us — how it removes the joy, freedom, and play.
I remember a concept from a sport psychology course outlining levels of arousal and attentional fields:
Low arousal = too broad of an attentional field
Moderate arousal = optimal attentional field
High arousal = too narrow of an attentional field
Definitely not mind-blowing stuff, but certainly a helpful handle when we think about operating at peak performance.
Of which I have not been for the past 2 hours — holy tunnel vision.
I’ve been a lifelong swimmer.
Here’s something that continues to blow me away:
Despite swimming tens of thousands of hours, there is one thing that remains the hardest part of any swim: diving in the water.
I just stare at the water.
The amount of hours wasted on a pool deck is embarrassing.
There’s just something about that sudden shock from dry to wet.
At some point, though, I do just have to hit play.
At some point, I just start.
Here’s the ironic thing to me: everything gets easier from there.
Just like this newsletter — all I had to do was face my reality: I’ve been watching the cursor blink on this screen for way too long.
Here I am at the end of a writing session — which was quite fun.
The newsletter is complete.
I’m kicked off to the New Year.
Profound?
It no longer matters to me.
And maybe this all can apply to you, too.
Perhaps it’s something big you want to tackle this year.
Or, perhaps, like me, it’s something you’ve been stuck on for a couple hours.
You have to hit play.
Just start.
As a professor of mine once said, “Getting over inertia is the hardest part.”
Once you start, don’t quit — momentum is the best mind-altering drug.
Onward.
