There’s a saying, “Beginning is half-done.” Yes, getting started is often half the battle, if not more.
Yet, we tend to ignore the power of getting started.
We often overlook the fact that walking through the door, or showing up, is of monumental value.
Instead of being taught to win the small battles first, we are admonished to “get out of your comfort zone,” to tackle the big goal. This is clearly bad advice as most people who say they “believe” you must get out of your comfort zone, seldom do so.
The counterintuitive reality is that we are at our best when we begin from within our comfort zone and effortlessly, organically allow ourselves to expand beyond all expectations.
Years ago I figured this out when I kept procrastinating on tidying up and reorganizing my office. Realizing that this was going to take quite a while, I put the chore off. For weeks.
Then one evening I set a ridiculously small goal. Instead of focusing on the job being completed, I put my attention on getting started. I gave myself a simple action goal to “clean my office for five minutes.”
It was a ludicrous goal in comparison to the many hours that were required. But something surreal took place when I set this tiny goal.
First, I had zero resistance to getting started. I began immediately.
Second, once I engaged, five minutes turned into a quick 30.
Third, once I got to 30 minutes, I had so much momentum that I kept going for several hours. I began at 7 PM and continued until 3 AM.
Oddly enough, I had no fatigue. Despite the late hour I wanted to continue. I was waaaay beyond my so-called “comfort zone,” and was totally comfortable being there. I didn’t have a shread of fight, flight or freeze
I stopped myself, though, and went to sleep.
The next evening i employed the same gambit. I set another five-minute goal to see if the same thing would happen. And sure as the sheets of paper I was shredding, five minutes became 30, and 30 minutes turned into hours. Once again, I called it a day at 3 AM.
Incredible, I thought.
On the third day I could smell the finish. I was within range to taste victory. Even so, I began with another tiny goal, and the same thing happened again. The only difference was that instead of retiring at 3 AM, the job was completed by midnight.
There was no dread as I worked. I was in the ZONE, living in the NOW for a grand total of 21 hours. If you had told me I would enjoy spending 21 hours organizing my office, I would have scoffed. There’s no way that could happen, yet it did.
If, on the other hand, I pushed myself to get out of my comfort zone, there is no way I would have had the same zero resistance experience. No way at all..
This story illustrates why I teach people to begin with small daily goals that you can spontaneously upgrade on the fly. You might think the big, hairy goal is better, but nothing favorably compares to eating the elephant one morsel at a time.
Matt Furey
By the way, I have much more to reveal to you on this subject in Zero Resistance Living and Theatre of the Mind. Both products are available at psycho-cybernetics.com
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