This phrase came into being about a year ago in conversation with members of The Carbon Almanac community. We were talking about the tendency to postpone or avoid projects that are large, daunting, and don’t have a clear solution.
The idea was that if you just did something you could gain the momentum needed to move the work forward in a positive direction. The phrase has been used a lot in my world over the last 12 months.
Last week, I dove into the definitions of “start” and “starting” and found an interesting connection.
Start is the point in time or space at which something begins. This is present tense.
Starting means to begin an activity or undertaking. This is continuous tense – action is not complete.
With these two definitions, the phrase “Start by Starting” means to pick a present moment in time and place AND begin an activity or undertaking.
My Story – The Daunting Basement
I am now applying the Start by Starting philosophy to my basement.
This is an area of the house that has been on my list to organize FOR YEARS! When the kids were growing up, this is the place many things went when they were no longer of use in the main house. Over the years, I’ve gotten some things out of there, but it continues to be a mental weight.
Many times, I’ve gone down (start), looked around, and come right back up without starting. The difference last week was I went down with a timer set. I decided to spend 15 minutes STARTING.
The process worked! I picked the area next to the stairs and began sorting items and clearing floor space. I was amazed at how much was able to be accomplished in that short period of time. The process took the weight and bigness of the project and made it small.
Small steps over time will make a big difference. My goal is to spend 15 minutes every day down there. Making this a daily habit this year, this will add up to over 90 hours. Imagine how much could be accomplished in 90 hours!
I’m hopeful that the photo in this post looks much different as 2023 comes to a close.
Your Turn
Is there a project at work or home that is weighing on your mind?
If you had 90 hours to do something new this year, what would it be?
What if you set a timer for 15 minutes today to Start by Starting?
Imagine what you could do with 90 hours….15 minutes at a time.