Start Where You Are

These days my brain is working overtime, being pulled in many directions and often skipping around like a small rubber bounce ball in a small room. So, to help me focus today, I did a random quote to see if it would hit home.

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. ~Arthur Ashe

Well this one did hit home. Being a recovering perfectionist who relapses quite frequently (feels even more so during this past year + some), I found myself delaying things, or shall I say excuses for delaying things, because I didn’t believe I had what I needed to start. At the same time, the criteria to start was not set in stone. So, the only thing that stopped me from starting was me and being okay with where I am today.

My second round of excuses was I did not have all of the information or tools I needed to start. If you’ve ever picked up or attended a “how to start a small business” or “how to learn <fill in the blank>”, usually there is an extensive list of things you should do first. Once again, the only thing that stopped me from starting was my limiting belief that all checkboxes had to be marked first.

My third round of excuses was I did not have all the experience that I needed to start. How on earth could I learn all I needed to learn? How on earth could I acquire all the skills I needed? These are the favorite phrases of my perfectionist self and excellent excuses to not start. Once again, the only thing that stopped me from starting was my own self-doubt.

It’s timely this quote popped into my life at this point. I finally started a new business I wanted to embark upon. It only took two years to knock through the various excuses noted above and then some, knock through believing I should be at particular place in my life, knock through checklists are the only “right” way to do something, and knock through self-doubt in my ability to achieve.

So, I started where I am. I am using what I have. I am doing what I can. I know this is the start, not the final product. I promised myself to be open to the successes and learn from the failures. This quote will be going up on my board, to remind myself each day is a day to start where you are, use what I have and do what I can. ~ChaCha