#246 – Is 'how' bogging down your 'what?'

When laying out the steps keeps you from taking step one.

This is where my procrastination stems from: thinking about how I'll do something makes the task so insurmountable in my head, that I don't even start.

I discovered it this morning, while doing my "morning pages" (three pages of automatic writing, as suggested by Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way). Even though I'd gotten into quite a rhythm with the practice, I'd missed the last couple of days.

On the pages this morning, I wondered why I didn't write yesterday, when I had the time.

I recalled the feeling attached to the prospect of doing it: I'd need to open my backpack, take the notebook out, and find somewhere to lean against to write. I felt the notebook would weigh 1,000 pounds. I saw a notebook as big as Mount Fuji coming out of the backpack.

The heaviness of the task fell over me and I just passed – maybe tomorrow, I thought.

Something similar happens sometimes when I set to write: despite having an idea, I chew on it too much before actually coming to the page and start writing.

Thinking about it now, I see that the tasks I've done with the least resistance are the ones I've enjoyed the most. And what has helped reduce resistance?

Genuine curiosity. Not knowing 'how' I'd do something. Just having a 'what' in mind, an idea, and setting out to discover 'how' it'll unfold.

Because at times we confuse strategy with tactics, we think we need to plan all the steps before we know exactly where we're going.

But the most perfect steps are useless, if you're going in the wrong direction.

When has throwing the 'hows' away given you velocity to get started?

Love,

Carolina