Just Get Started

When we think about making a change in our lives, it’s natural to believe that we need to get to 100% of our goal as fast as possible. After all, why not capitalize on our motivation and energy while we have it, right? 

The problem here is that we often get so wrapped up in the idea of perfection that we throw in the towel the first time we “fail.” In practice, this is the smoker who decides to quit cold turkey, accidentally slips up with one cigarette, and then immediately goes back to smoking a pack a day. 

In some cases, this desire to quickly achieve our goals prevents us from even starting in the first place. I see it all the time when people react to my stories about mountaineering. They hear about my experience and immediately believe that in order to be “successful” they would have to go out and climb Everest (even if they’ve never so much as hiked a day in their lives). Otherwise, why even bother? 

Last week’s podcast guest, Kathy Freston, is a great example of the importance of taking things slowly. Kathy is a New York Times bestselling author and advocate for a healthier and more sustainable food system. After years of being a meditation teacher and emphasizing the importance of mindfulness, Kathy realized that she wasn’t listening to her own advice when it came to the meals she was consuming. Rather than whether it tasted good and was generally healthy, she didn’t think too much about food. Motivated mainly by her belief that no animal should suffer to become a meal for an omnivore, Kathy became vegan… but not immediately! She slowly worked up to it over the course of a year and a half. 

Kathy gave some great tips for how to stay motivated toward a goal while not falling into the temptation to try and achieve the whole thing at once. While Kathy’s focus is specifically on becoming vegan, these insights can be applied to really any change you want to make in your life.

Try it yourself: 

• Bring a lightness to it. One of the things that first lit Kathy’s fire to become vegan was seeing online videos about the horrors of slaughterhouses. Though these are very moving, she also acknowledged that it’s possible for people to be desensitized after seeing painful things over and over again. Just like it’s important to let the body rest after consecutive days of exercise, it’s important to let the soul rest. Go enjoy the weekend, take yourself out to a fantastic dinner, but then come in on Monday morning reinvigorated to pursue your goal. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

• Find your community. There are over 10 million groups on Facebook. It’s safe to say that you’ll probably be able to find one that contains people who are working toward the same goal as you. Being able to share challenges, celebrations, and advice with people who understand and are along on their own parallel journey is such a powerful thing. I find it incredibly motivating when people reach out on social media and tell me I inspired them to go on a walk during their lunch break or try a new way of thinking about their time in a day. 

• Do normal things differently. Kathy had been a meat eater for her whole life and remembers being overwhelmed by the thought of what she would make for dinner if not chicken. She started seeking inspiration through online recipes and trips to the grocery store, where she would visit aisles she had never been down before. The result was that she discovered a whole new world of plant based burgers, sausages, cheeses, and yogurts that she never knew existed. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that can drive inspiration.