Built For Stealth: Key Principles for Building a Great Life

Most people fail to achieve their goals because they fail to start anything. They sit and wait, getting stuck in too many details that lead to overwhelming feelings. This brings up fear of failure and brings up memories of things you started in the past...and gave up.

You negotiate with your mind and decide that now is not the time. The excuses kick in. You tell yourself, "I'll wait until..."

- "I'm financially stable."

- "Things will be better than they are now."

- "My kids are older and I have more time."

- "I feel more secure than I do now."

The excuses hold you back and you never really get started. If you want to start, you have to start. If you write nothing on the blank page, it will remain blank until you put pen to paper. Write one word. Just one. Then write another. Make it a sentence.

Sound too easy? You have just started something. You start everything by taking that first step, no matter how simple it is.

What are you waiting for? The perfect day to start, the best weather conditions, or when you're feeling your best and unbeatable.

Conditions can change. The best time to start your life was yesterday. The next best time is right now. Whatever your needs-rich or broke, sad or happy, ready or not-we start NOW.

Make the decision to stop waiting and start doing. Turn off the television. Go into silence and prepare your mind for what is to come.

It doesn't matter where you are in your life, how much you have failed, or how hopeless your situation seems. No matter where you are, who you are, or how far you've fallen in the past, you can start from where you are. It's never too late to succeed, to make tomorrow better than yesterday, and to make today better than yesterday.

Procrastination is a fantasy that you can defeat with simple action tasks built into your routine. If procrastination is holding you back and you're making excuses about why you can't start now, do the simplest thing you can imagine.

For years, I put off filling out a job application that I needed to get done. But I knew it was a long process, and I wouldn't say I liked applications. So one day I asked myself, "What is the simplest thing I can do to get started?"

I wrote my name on the application. Then the date. Within an hour, I had most of it filled out. I waited three years to do something that could have been done in less than an hour.

Don't wait. You'll regret it. Start your journey with me today.

Mark Twain once said, "The secret to getting ahead is to get started.

So, let's get started. Start where you are. With what you have. Right now. With who you are.

Getting Started: Action Steps

(1) Make a plan. Plan your work and then work your plan! You need to know your destination before you set out on a journey, or at least the direction in which you want to travel. The plan you make is your blueprint for the future; include all the important concepts and make detailed steps for each part of the journey.

(2) Gather the information or resources you need. This is a powerful way to start your plan. Having knowledge or specific information before you dive in can save you time and wasted effort.

(3) Break it down into manageable chunks. One of the reasons we put off starting something new is the size of the task in front of us. If you are standing in front of the world's tallest mountain, it seems like an insurmountable obstacle in your past.

If you have a project, a goal, or something that needs to be done, thinking about it as a whole creates a fear of doing anything in many people. Garages and basements remain in disarray; important work is discarded halfway through; books and paintings remain unfinished; and the ability to complete anything becomes daunting.