“Work finally begins when the fear of doing nothing exceeds the fear of doing it badly.”
Alain de Botton
Perfection is the antithesis of inspiration — it prevents you from getting started.
The trick to getting going is to do it badly. That’s right: Be intentionally messy.
Producing crap isn’t the end-goal. The point of taking small actions is to create enough momentum to feel like we’re winning.
What sustains persistence are small improvements. You’re looking to go from one pushup a day to two the next week. You’re trying to walk five thousand steps a day before graduating to six thousand.
You’ll need to write one-hundred words day after day before developing the muscle to get down two-hundred words on a consistent basis. By the way, there is no such thing as writer’s block!
Do small things to get started — no matter how poorly — to avoid second-guessing yourself and to prime the motivational pump.