Here’s Why It’s So Hard to Get Started
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards.”
- Steve Jobs
“Just get started!”
If you’re trying to build something — anything at all — it’s probably the best advice you will hear.
Just get started.
It sounds pretty simple, so why is it so hard?
No matter how you slice it, our failure to take action is rooted in one thing — fear. Our fear of the unknown, fear of failure.
Fear causes us to try and control the outcome. We want our path to be precise. We want our journey mapped out for us. We want to avoid taking risks.
And so we try to connect all the dots looking forward.
But it’s a fool’s game. You can only connect the dots looking backward, so stop trying to have it all figured out before you begin.
In other words, you can’t know how the story unfolds before it’s been written. And, unless you are playing copycat, it’s your story — so you need to write it.
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Hi! I’m Colin Graves, a financial writer and editor based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 2022, I walked away from a 24-year banking career after building my side hustle into a six-figure business.
Every Tuesday morning (6 AM CST), I email an idea, story, or tip that helped me escape the 9–5.
If your 9–5 is keeping you from living the life you dream of, sign up for my newsletter and begin the journey to getting unstuck.
