Start Today

“A year from now you'll wish you had started today"
                          -Karen Lamb

As creative people working in creative spaces we've always got something that needs starting. Whether it's a side-hustle, a life-changing business idea or a looming end-of-day deadline, we almost always have a voice inside our heads whispering "start now".  But where to begin? And more importantly, when to begin?

In a poetic and thoughtful rumination, blogger Josh Spector asks the question "what happens if you start today?" His answers are insightful, inspiring and worth sharing in their entirety.

You’ve got a thing and you know it.
A thing you want to do. Or need to do. Or are scared to do.
A thing which could change everything.
But you can’t get yourself to start it.
You’ve got your reasons.
Fear of failure. Fear of success. Laziness. Uncertainty. Time.
Let’s shove all that aside for a second.
Pretend none of it matters. Or exists.
(It probably doesn’t have to.)
For a moment, let’s talk about what will happen if you start today.
A bunch of things.
Some good. Some bad. Some scary. Some surprising.


If you start today, you’ll feel good today.
The plunge is exhilarating.
When “someday” becomes today, we get a rush of accomplishment, possibility, and pride.
Doing feels good. Way better than thinking about doing.
If you start today, you’ll feel scared today.
Because the hypothetical is now real.
And when things become real, they become scary.
Until we start, we can’t fail.
But once we start…our failure becomes likely.


If you start today, you’ll start looking for reasons to quit today.
You won’t quit today, but you’ll start to consider it.
You’ll consider it when an element of what you started doesn’t turn out as you expected.
When a moment is harder than anticipated.
The quit in you will start to bubble up.
We all have it in us.
But that’s ok. Get used to it.
That urge to quit is going to be around for a while —welcome it.
It’s part of doing things.


If you start today, you’ll be the kind of person who does things.
That’s not a minor thing. It’s meaningful. Important. Revolutionary.
All the time you put off starting vanishes the moment you start.
Once you start, you’re a doer. You’re no longer a procrastinator or avoider.
Starting is a way to shed your skin.
To become somebody new.
You are what you do today.
Not what you did yesterday.
Not what you might do tomorrow.


If you start today, you won’t regret it.
Nobody ever says, “I wish I would have procrastinated longer.”
Nobody.
Ever.


If you start today, you give yourself a chance to succeed.
You have a zero percent chance of success before you start.
Planning, research, and preparation is meaningless unless you actually start.
The start makes success possible. It gets you in the game.
That’s a big deal. Don’t overlook it.
Celebrate it.


If you start today, you no longer have to wonder, “What if?”
Starters don’t have to live in hypotheticals.
Don’t have to wonder what they might be capable of.
Or how their life could change.
Or if something’s a good idea or not.
Because when you start, you get to find out.
And even if you don’t like what you discover, you’re still better off for having started.
Discovery has value. Certainty has value.
And starting enables both.
And when you remove the “What if?” from your life, you get an opportunity people who never start will never receive:

The chance to start again.

Use it.

BONUS: Free, Printable Motivational Poster

This one comes from the good folks at Recomendo. It's is an action plan to defeat procrastination. Check out and download your copy by clicking here.