Before I started my first business, I admit I was scared. Starting something new that I had never done before seemed both impossible and overwhelming. “Start where you are” -old me would’ve come back with, “But I’m not anywhere!”
Start Where You Are:
For all of us starting anything…a new job, a house project, a healthier lifestyle we can feel already behind. When we look at our social accounts and listen to podcasts, it seems like everyone is already doing the thing, succeeding at the thing, has the thing, and already is onto the next thing.
What we have to realize is all those people who are successful started somewhere, often with nothing.
This idea gets me thinking about the scene from the hilarious movie Bridesmaids where Kristen Wiig, who plays Annie had owned a bakery that went under. She comes home, reminisces the memories she had of her bakery, and then proceeds to do a whole lot of work to bake and decorate 1 perfect cupcake.
If you haven’t seen the movie or remember the scene, here it is…
What we can learn here is that Annie didn’t start with a bakery. She started by baking cupcakes and not trays of them…1 at a time. This is important to understand when you look at your goals. If you’re on Insta and looking at Fitspo you need to understand these people put in a lot of work to get there. Dedication to diet, exercise. Sacrificing relationships and time to get to this point. Plus perhaps hiring graphic designers and photographers to get their pictures looking that good.
I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t look like I just got spray-tanned, hair did, makeup perfect and abs contoured in the perfect location with the perfect lighting. Honestly, right now I have Dorito crumbs on my sweats, baby milk on my tank top, and my hair is in a true messy bun…not the kind you try to make look messy, but it’s really tamed.
In other words…I’m not trying here and you shouldn’t either! I’m starting where I am right now to write this post. I know I’ll finish it and reach my goal of helping someone out there today who needs the message of this quote.
It doesn’t matter where you are in your life. If you have a dream or a goal, you can start where you are. Doing 1 small thing each day and see where it gets you that day…that week…that month and so on. Read last week’s post on doing 1 small thing each day here.
Use What You Have:
Next, don’t feel like you need fancy equipment to reach your goal or even start. I coach clients who feel they need professional photos to go on Instagram, thousand dollar cameras to be on YouTube, an office rental to actually have an office.
All you need is the idea and creativity to get started.
Don’t let the media, expensive coaching programs, and over-priced product advertising tell you what you need.
For example, I had a client last year that wanted to organize her life. She was working with me to prepare for job interviews, however, during this one session, she was stressing about buying $200 drawer organizers. She was working part-time so money was tight.
When I presented the idea of using cardboard and shoeboxes to organize her drawers so we could get back to focusing on the interviews that would lead her to a better paying job she was stunned. She was so caught up in the product that she missed the point of our call! I assured her once she got the job, the money she would make could buy her the fancy dividers, but for now, using what she had was enough.
When I started coaching, I sat at a bar in my basement to coach clients with a full view of my wine rack because that was the space I had at the time. I coached a whole year at my bar with just my laptop and wifi. Now I have a whole office…which took another whole year to get permits and have it built and fitted.
What if I waited 2 full years to start coaching!? I can’t even think about it..all the people I wouldn’t have met and worked with! It’s crazy to think about NOT having coached in my life all that time. That is why I am here to tell you to use what you have and get started.
Be creative, not “perfect.” The other day I was out with my daughter at a doctor’s appointment and I forgot her mask. I had an extra in the car, but it was too big. She’s on the spectrum, so this was a trigger for her because it didn’t fit right on her face. When we got into the office, I asked for 2 paperclips and rigged that mask to her face so she was comfortable. This is how you have to think…
“What can I use right now?”
“Where can I get it?”
“How can I use it?”
Don’t underestimate the power of borrowing, bartering, asking for help, and thinking outside the box. When you start to think that you can have everything you need you will have what you need. It’s like that quote that says, “the teacher appears when the student is ready.” Totally true for me. Anytime I need something I don’t have somehow it suddenly comes my way. Go back to those questions and look around…it’s all there to get started.
Trust yourself, you have creativity and passion inside you.
Do What You Can:
We are all in different seasons in our lives. Sometimes time is on our side and other times it’s not. You do what you can when you can and that’s all you can do. Maybe you have a full-time job and are trying to get a side-hustle going. Maybe you are a teacher during the day and a personal trainer at night. Maybe you are a new mom of 7-week old twins and a 5-year-old who is trying to write a blog right now (haha)!
If your time is going to other priorities, don’t sweat it. Do what you can.
And know that whatever you do is enough because it is more than nothing.
Often, we think when we start we already need to be finished and successful and that’s that true. I’m constantly telling my clients that it’s important not to miss the journey. The journey holds all the successes, and more importantly the failures you need to find those successes.
I want you to look back on the journey and know: where you started, how hard you worked from nothing, that you learned what worked and what didn’t and that by doing what you could when you could…it made a difference. You made it and can look back knowing you are capable, strong, and determined!
Whatever you are thinking of, it is in reach…go for it!
