“You don’t have to be great to get started but you do have to get started to be great”
Les Brown / Zig Ziglar / Lee J Colan / Probably others too
It seems easy enough and yet just starting is hard.
I have these ambitions, to be a master in one area. But the simple act of committing myself to an area has resulted in mental turmoil that has persisted longer than i care to mention.
The fear of picking the wrong option has haunted me and I’ve come to the conclusion that with purposeful practice i could be great in any area, but that’s just it! What area?
The abundance of choice had invoked a ‘paralysis by analysis’.
So how does one overcome the fear of commitment?
Every career option will have its positives and negatives. Every career will have its unexpected elements that i can’t foresee now.
So I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way to overcome this mental obstacle is to feel the fear and do it anyway (which is a great book, that i recommend by the way).
You wouldn’t commit to something without trying it first. That’s why there’s work experience and internships. Arranged marriages don’t fit into this line of advice so we’re ignoring them :P.
Take your list of options and give yourself a day/week/month taking action within those areas. Because i believe that the best cure to procrastination is action. There’s no better way to break that mental barrier.
Alternatively, if you still can’t decide which path to take, Seth Godin recently wrote about using your brain’s trust to aid you in making this decision. He describes writing a page on each option, really selling it, then handing it to people you trust and get their opinion. A great way to take the weight off your shoulders.
So reader if the fear of commitment haunts you the way it does me, I’ve found that these are good solutions. But do come back tomorrow as i might have a better solution for you then! 😀
Thomas Duggan 