Go Ask Sawyer
Go Ask Sawyer
10 Minute Thoughts - Just Start
Ever found yourself paralyzed at the starting line of your own ambitions? Join me, Jamie, as we tackle the mental hurdles that keep us from chasing our dreams in today's episode, with insights from Brianna West's illuminating work. I'll open up about my own dance with procrastination and how embracing the philosophy of 'starting before you're ready' can lead to unexpected triumphs. Through my marathon training anecdotes, we'll discover the true value of committing to our goals, despite the fear of failure looming over us like a persistent shadow.
Rise and shine with a dose of morning motivation that could be the game-changer for your passion projects. I'll reveal how a mere 10 minutes a day can build the momentum you need to achieve what once seemed unreachable. It's not just about showing up; it's about being present and forgiving ourselves for the occasional stumble. So, let's break free from the chains of perfection and instead, celebrate each step forward. And remember, the journey we embark on today could be the story we tell tomorrow.
Hey, welcome back to Go Ask Sawyer. This is Jamie, your host of Go Ask Sawyer and our new series called 10 Minute Thoughts. On this week's episode, we talk about starting, just starting. I went for a walk today and I was talking to Gunnar and we were just discussing how so often we have these grand ideas. Right, we get this idea in our head, this want in our heart try something different, to try something new and yet it goes nowhere other than that idea, because we either think we can't, we think we shouldn't, we have people around us who maybe think it's silly, or somehow talk us out of it and at the end of the day, if something is put in you an idea, anything of that sort it is meant for you.
Speaker 1:I really, truly believe that the amount I've been reading in books, the amount I've been reading in the Bible, when something is put in you, it is put in you for a purpose, it is put, the idea is put there for a reason. Normally it's so that you do it or have some idea around it or somehow help get it off the ground. And so often I feel like we talk ourselves out of these ideas because they just seem too big. And today on our walk, I was really thinking. I kept telling myself if you don't start, you'll never start. If you don't start, you'll never start. If you don't start, you'll never start, and it just seemed like such a okay, jamie, I get it, I get it, but do I really? I've talked in these last few episodes just about different things in my life that I'm trying to change or trying to do, or just different things that I've been thinking about. But at the end of the day, I can think all I want, and until I start doing it whether it's writing, recording podcasts, finding a new job, redeveloping habits around food and exercise I'm never going to be able to start it. But I feel like we always go into like, okay, I'll do it Monday, I'll start my diet Monday, I'll start writing Monday, I'll go to the gym Monday, I'll start eating better Monday. This will be my last weekend of craziness. But then Monday comes and goes and nothing has changed. And then a week goes by, and another week goes by and, before you know it, a month has gone by and nothing has changed in your life and you're still maybe frustrated and you're still thinking of this idea and you may even think to yourself oh, if I would have just started a month ago. Now it's too late, but at the end of the day it's just really not.
Speaker 1:And I'm a big person of I can't overly plan. If I start to overly plan and make a whole thing, I'll usually talk myself out of it. I just need to jump, which is another reason I feel like sometimes I get myself in trouble because I don't think through things, but I just need to jump. I just need to do it before I'm ready. And so often I feel like a lot of us are able to talk ourself out of the task at hand. I know I'm at least able to talk myself out of the task at hand. I'll have a whole Saturday and keep telling myself I'll do the laundry later, I'll start cleaning later, you know, I'll just record that podcast tomorrow. I know I was going to write for like a half an hour today, but I can do that tomorrow. Yeah, I have three hours. I probably could go for a quick you know run or I could go to the gym, but I'll do that tomorrow. I push so much stuff off that it's just a big waste of time.
Speaker 1:And then you always look back and think, man, I could have just started. What is that saying about working out? You never. The only regret you ever have is the workout you didn't do, and I feel like you could apply that to anything. The only time we truly regret something worthwhile is when we didn't start it or try it. Even those of us who maybe have attempted to do a 5k and we did it and maybe we never run again after that, we would be more full of regret if we said we were going to do it and never did. For those of us who have launched an idea, even if it didn't come all the way through, we at least started it. The regret usually lies in the things that we don't even try for, the questions we do not even ask. So today I ask, I want you to ask yourself what is something that I want to start that I just haven't started yet, and why I'm reading this book or the Mountain? Is you Brianna West?
Speaker 1:I believe I quoted her in one of my past podcasts and this is a self-sabotaging reason here the fear of failure, and I feel like we don't show up for ourselves by starting things because we are scared we're going to fail. But she says there's a difference between failing because you're trying something new and daring and failing because you are not showing up and doing the work and being responsible for your actions. So the fear of failing is often something that holds people back from putting in the work they would need to become truly great at something. But it can also take another, more inside form. Once we have established something new in our lives, this fear can come up as an instant worry that we're missing something. And so I think, when I think about these quotes and like what she's saying about failing, you know, I've run a few marathons in my life and I think the first four I didn't really train for like it was a very half-assed training.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't really push myself. I'd go out and do most of the runs and then that way, when I didn't get the goal time that I wanted, I could blame it on. Oh well, yeah, I didn't train very well. That's me not showing up for myself. The most recent marathon I ran and then the ultra marathon I ran after that I put in the time I showed up for myself. In rain, in snow, I was going through a breakup. When I was sad, when I just didn't want to, when I was exhausted, I put in the work and I showed up for myself. And I think those are the two runs I'm the most proud of, because I really showed up. It might not have been the fastest and no, I mean, I didn't fail Anytime you cross the finish line I do not believe is a fail.
Speaker 1:Even if you don't cross the finish line when you show up, I don't see it as a fail. But how often do we let fear get in the way Because it's like, oh well, if I don't do this to perfection, I'm failing. But really the fail comes from when we don't show up for ourselves. So when we decide we want to write that book, we sit down every day for 10 to 15 minutes and we just write and we just write, which is great. I think that's a great way to start any new task. Is that 10 to 15 minutes? It's short. But then all of a sudden we stop pushing ourselves, we stop paying attention to what we're writing. We're just kind of putting it out there, putting it out there, putting it out there, but then all of a sudden it just becomes action. There's nothing behind it. That's when we're not showing up for ourselves.
Speaker 1:When I did this podcast, when I first started thinking about this podcast, I got this idea. I knew I was on the brink of something. I felt it in my gut and I didn't know what it was and I just started writing about things I want to talk to people about, because it seemed like what I was getting from people is they enjoyed talking to me, they enjoyed listening to me. I had done a lot of work on myself and I continue to do a lot of work on myself and people seem to really enjoy having these conversations and I thought what about a podcast? I love listening to them. So I started making outlines, I started creating YouTube, different things, I talked to different people that did podcasts and I kind of created this whole scenario in my mind and then I just thought I need to just start and then I launched my first podcast, my very first episode of my intentions, and it's not edited. I wouldn't say it's the worst one, but it's not edited. I didn't really think it through, I didn't really have an outline, but I just needed to jump and I just needed to start and I was so proud of myself and here I am sitting we'll say three seasons later, because that's how I'm structuring this doing 10 minute thoughts and I am so thankful I showed up for myself in that moment by starting, starting before I was ready starting even though I was scared what people were going to say, jamie. You actually have nothing to say, jamie. No one wants to hear what you have to say. You're a horrible editor. You don't even know how to do a podcast. But here's the thing. Personally, I know one other person doing a podcast and that's it. And I think it's pretty special when you, when you get something in your heart and you figure out a way to make it happen and you just jump.
Speaker 1:Recently I noticed I've been falling into old patterns with myself. I've talked about that again on a lot of the podcasts. So these last two weeks I've decided to get up 15 minutes early every day to take a long walk with Gunnar because I love the mornings. I realize I really do love the mornings as much as I love sleeping in. These realize I really do love the mornings as much as I love sleeping in. These spring mornings we have here in Wisconsin have just been absolutely glorious.
Speaker 1:So I used to set my alarm for five o'clock and it would go off until six, 6.10 in the morning and I would be like, well, if I can't get up early, I can't get up early, so I just won't do anything at all. So I thought, what if it's just 545? I have sweatpants. Next to my bed, I have my tennis shoes Sometimes it's just Crocs I know it's not good for my feet, I don't care. Sports bra and a sweatshirt. I just get up, I throw that stuff on, I grab the leash, I walk outside and I go.
Speaker 1:And I have to tell you I have looked so forward these last two weeks to getting up with my buddy. I have conversations with him, I have conversations with God. I set intentions. Sometimes I just look at the sky and think this is so cool. I get to start my morning this way and then I usually even have an extra five to 10 minutes in the morning that I'm able to sit down at my desk and journal, even if it's two minutes, with my coffee.
Speaker 1:I really love mornings. But I got to tell you I just started. Instead of saying like, okay, I'll do it Monday, I'll do it this day, I'll do it this day, I just started. I got the idea in my head. I set my alarm and I was like no matter what, I'm going to get up, even if I'm half asleep, and that has helped switch this mindset in me into like, okay, what's next? So what is the story that's sitting on your heart? What's the story sitting in your head? What is something that you're thinking I'm scared to fail at? What is something that you just need to start? You need 10 minutes a day to just start this, and if you miss a day, that's fine, do it the next. You miss two days, that's fine, do it the third. How are you showing up for yourself by just starting? How are you taking 10 minutes to start something? So you can start something? Thanks for sticking with me. Have a beautiful day. This has been your 10 Minute Thoughts. Bye.