Remember the other week, when I talked about Morning Pages and how journaling about something over and over can really motivate you to just get to it?
I’ve got a big project in the wings and there’s nothing like that initial “where do I start?” to feel the pressure. I’m a big fan of outlines and planning and research but one can also very easily get bogged down in this phase of things. This is where my Morning Pages really help.
A year and a half ago, I had the idea of doing a regular video show. I didn’t know how to do it, or what equipment I would need…let alone how to set things up or whether I could do it on a regular basis. I had such a giant learning curve—in unfamiliar territory—that it sometimes seemed insurmountable.
So I did some research. I took seminars. I looked at cameras. I learned all about video from the teenager at Best Buy, who makes zombie movies. I bought (and broke) a tripod. Two, actually. I set it all up. I made outlines and plans and journaled about it and then read my journaling…and then—then I had to just do it.
Here’s the thing: You can spend a lot of time in the research phase. You can spend even longer in the self-doubt phase. And you can spend ages making lists and putting off the actual doing. (As I also did.) It took me four months to get from idea to Just Doing It. Because, of course, I was afraid.
(I mean, have you read some of the comments on You Tube videos?)
You know what motivated me, in the end? Journaling in my Morning Pages every day about this show I wanted to have. And every day, being reminded that all I really needed to do was do it. Not perfectly, or fabulously (although that would be nice). Just do it.
Because once you do one, the second is so much easier.
It’s the simplest thing, and the hardest.
So. I’m inching my way out of the research phase of this new big project; finally, because—guess why?—I got tired of journaling every morning about this project. So today, I started.
(Thank you, Morning Pages, for kicking my behind.)
How do you motivate yourself for those big projects? What motivates you to just do it? Is there something out there that you want to do, but somehow can’t get started? I’d love to hear!
Happy Monday!
PS. For another perspective on the same issue, check out Leonie Dawson’s Wild Donkey approach. Brilliant!
Sarah, absolutely love this post, all that procrastination we do go through because we are scared! I’m trying harder both at home and work to seize the opportunity, try not to care if I get shouted down and just do! Really keen to try the three pages just need to find the right notebook, umm … Jo
It’s good to know other people do it too, isn’t it? 🙂 That way we can all encourage each other!
I have the same issues…afraid of rejection and then putting a happy face on and trying it again. But if we keep all those wonderful ideas inside of us, we will just explode! Pretend all those people are in their jammies and go for it!…hahaha
My personality has what I call a “divide and conquer” mode. I will go for awhile with a long list of “to do” and then when that mode hits, the energy takes me through my entire list and checked off with “done and done”!
For me the key is to keep my list going, I would hate to waste the “divide and conquer” mode and having nothing to get done.
Thanks for the morning pages definitely will try this.
You’re so right, Cindy! And *we* will explode…plus, if we never share those wonderful ideas, then no one else can benefit from them. Definitely, the jammies vision can help, too! 🙂
Sherri, that’s a really good point. I agree, I hate to waste the “divide and conquer” mode too—so even if something is top priority on my list, if I’m in the mode to tackle something in particular, I have to go with the flow…otherwise I can lose that momentum. And oh, yes…the Morning Pages are really great for a lot of reasons. Do check out Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, I think you’ll like it.