Take Charge of the Start

by Ray Reuter on June 20, 2013

“Regardless of your age or station in life, it all comes down to one simple truth: you just have to start.”

This is just one of the many compelling lines that have struck a chord with me from the book, “Start. Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average, Do Work That Matters” by Jon Acuff. The premise is simple … the starting line is the only line that you and I can completely control. The only moment we are “in charge of” is the start.start_book_3d

Jon champions shifting from AVERAGE to AWESOME. (Clearly he understands unfettering! LOL) The movement to unfettering wakes up some voices that are not particularly happy with our desire to start something new. Parts of us were quite comfortable, thank you very much! Jon points out these voices are not unique.  The messages are the same for everyone who dares to cross the starting line on the road to awesome (or unfettering as I like to say):

  1. Who are you to do that?  You’re not qualified. You’re not good enough. You don’t have what it takes.
  2. You’re too late. Somebody has beat you to it. You are too busy right now. You’re behind the curve. You don’t have enough time. This is the voice of fear telling you “do it later” or “it’s too late.”
  3. It has to be perfect. That voice has an extended stay in my head. Fear and doubt play volleyball with my thinking. One side says “it will never work” and the other side counters “it has to be perfect.” I get tired from the volleying and then delay, wait, think it over some more — anything but start! From the book … “If you ask fear if something is going to work, the answer will always be no. Don’t even ask it for advice. You know its answer. Just move on.”

Fear and doubt fear community — the sharing of your voices with others.  Suddenly they do not look so tough or sound so ferocious. Jon Acuff has a place you can share your voices at nomorevoices.com. Fear and doubt want to trick you into thinking you are the only one who feels a certain way. That you are all alone — what’s wrong with you? Fear wants to isolate you. The reality is that many others feel that same way as you. In sharing our voices, collectively they can be silenced.

So start. Unfetter. You have what it takes, you are not too late, you are HERE … and NOW is the time.

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