In today’s inspirational article, special guest writer and top-selling author NORA OLIVER offers motivation on how to start something new. Whether that’s a new health routine, marathon training, or even writing a book, it’s time to dream big and dare to fail…

by Nora Oliver

In a world where we micro-dose the lives and successes of others, ingesting thirty-second clips of people’s funniest content and best days on Instagram, being able to start something new has never felt more of a burden.

The consequences of perceived perfection are real.

Because of this, so many of us live with the belief that in order to start something new, we have to be instantly good at it.

We have to immediately be like all the gym influencers, health gurus, artists, authors, content creators, or creatives who are – on the outside of it – nailing this thing called life with an effortless grace. Oh, and making millions of dollars in the process.

This often means that we don’t take the steps toward beginning a new hobby, project or fitness routine. Ultimately, it seems useless in comparison to the people who have it “all figured out.”

We don’t take those first steps to losing weight, eating better, writing that play or learning that dance because the reason to begin never feels worth the payoff.

We allow ourselves to get bogged down with the minutiae of our daily lives, in the mind-killer of comparison. It’s comfortable, familiar, and doesn’t dare us to lean into the discomfort and have to do things imperfectly.

The truth is that beginning messily is the only way to begin.

Start something new in the messiest way

Now, there may be some lucky people who can start something new and instantly be good at it.

You know, those who step into a gym for the first time and can deadlift 500lbs without really trying. These blessed few are NOT the average. Nor are they a reflection of the reality of what it takes to be truly great at something.

Thankfully, greatness is less glamorous than that.

Behind every champion athlete, every talented author and amazing engineer, is a desire to put in countless hours doing the damn thing.

It’s failing constantly until you fail a little less.

It’s making a mistake, sometimes pretty epically, before we figure out how not to make that mistake again.

(Then we make it a few more times anyway because being human is a comedy of errors and learning the hard way 🤷‍♀️).

Perhaps most importantly, it’s not seeing the mistake as a personal failure.

It’s not proof that starting something new isn’t possible, but rather the reality that you are living enough and staying present enough to put in effort to your future. To whatever delights your heart and soul, and nourishes your mind.

Small victories add up

So, how do you actually do it?

💪 Start small. That may be walking for five minutes each day. Eating one bag of chips not two. Or spending ten minutes daily engaged with a hobby that has always been waiting for that “someday soon.”

💪 Level up. When you’ve begun, be diligent in the pursuit of leveling up in small increments. Push yourself past the point of comfort with each fractional moment spent engaged with that thing you’ve been putting off.

💪 Ignore perfection. It’s not about chasing that perfect run up a mountain or making that endlessly sharable piece of art for social media. It’s about seeing if you can make it up that next small hill when before it was never an option. It’s about learning how to mix your paint to create an orange-hued sunset or sing just a little bit more on-key to your favorite album.

Winning is done through the small victories that are built upon failing, failing, and failing.

Only then do you figure it out… and learn how to fail at it again in new, wonderful, annoying ways.

Perfection doesn’t exist

Perfection can only exist when we haven’t lived. When all the failures are carefully edited out to present to you something that seems unattainable from the outside… or as a carefully curated way to sell you a product. “For only $9.99 you too can fly like Superman!” 🦸‍♂️

But even Superman would tell you that he had to work at saving the world. Oh, and to not buy products from influencers who will never live your life or live in your body.

Time will pass whether we are on the sofa dreaming of doing better or actually out there doing the things that we’ve always dreamed of doing.

Instead of watching time pass us by in a frozen state of pre-inertia, we get to choose if we spend that time engaged in something that makes us feel creative, healthy, alive, and happy… or not.

We get to decide if we’re always going to be stuck in that painful in-between place of wanting to do more and seeing the world engaging with the thing you love and not actually doing it.

Isn’t it better to spend your time doing things that fill you with excitement, joy and fulfillment?

Start something new… NOW

It’s time to start something new. Dream big and dare to fail.

Begin that journey, no matter how messy it is – and allow yourself to fail at it constantly.

You deserve to begin.

You deserve to fail and reassess if the thing was even really meant for you with all the knowledge of having actually tried it.

You deserve to do it messily, and you deserve to succeed step by step, moment by moment, in a choice that can begin today.

Just do one bicep curl, write one sentence, or do one single thing that makes you feel engaged with a healthier, happier version of you.

The results may be better than you could have ever imagined.

Half-ass if you need…

Half-ass it if you need to, in order to whole-ass it one day soon.

Then half-ass it all over again tomorrow.

Keep doing it without comparing your journey to those of other people. Find ways to make it fun and always understand that a setback isn’t possible if you haven’t started at all.

Live messily, with the intention to live fully in your beginner’s journey toward becoming an expert (who totally still messes up sometimes).

Take those steps, metaphorical and literal, to eradicate all unrealistic ideas of perfection and simply start.

Effort is never wasted, especially in failure. The only waste is getting to ninety and realizing there were so many things you could have done, if you had only dared to begin.

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You can read more from Nora by checking out her first book.