The Beginner’s Manifesto

I subscribe to Scott Dinsmore’s Live Your Legend blog. You should check it out at http://www.liveyourlegend.net. Last week, Scott posted The Beginner’s Manifesto. This is really cool. Check it out…

The Beginner’s Manifesto:

1. The hardest step is the first one.
2. It’s also the smallest, and often the simplest.
3. Momentum is more powerful that we realize. But the snowball won’t roll unless you give the first push.
4. It’s hard to start, but it’s even harder to stop once we’ve started.
5. Start something small every day. Watch them pile up.
6. Choosing not to start is choosing to fail.
7. Find a reason that makes it worth it.
8. What will happen if you don’t begin? What might you miss?
9. Make the first step so small it’d be impossible not to take.
10. The only thing standing between dreaming and beginning, is you.
11. Start first. Think later.
12. If you don’t start, nothing else matters.
13. Most the fear comes from anticipating the start.
14. Most the fear disappears once you begin.
15. Don’t leave the sight of an idea without doing one thing to get it closer to reality.
16. Say no to something that doesn’t matter, so you can start one thing that does.
17. Possibility cannot live until you begin.
18. If you don’t start, you can’t finish.
19. Starting builds a bridge, creates a business, loses 100 pounds, writes a bestseller. Starting does it all.
20. Starting is what changes the world. It’s the only thing that ever has.
21. Everything starts by starting. When is now a good time?

I really love this career advice. If you don’t start, nothing will happen.

I always advise my career success coaching clients to begin big projects at the end of the day. That way, they’ll have some momentum when they get back to work the next day. Scott has taken my ideas to a whole new level.

This reminds me of one of the Nike ads that ran during the Olympics.  It shows an overweight young man jogging alone on a country road.  The narration reads…

“There are no grand celebrations here. No speeches. No bright lights. But there are great athletes. Somehow we’ve come to believe that greatness is reserved for the chosen few, for the superstars. The truth is greatness is for all of us. This is not about lowering expectations, its about raising them for every last one of us. Because greatness is not in one special place, and it is not in one special person. Greatness is wherever somebody is trying to find it.”

Here is a link to the ad and a piece ABC News did on it…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JnYcuRW_qo

The oung man in this ad, started.  He has embarked on his health and fitness journey.  I ride my bike — for enjoyment and exercise.  On the days when I feel like slacking off I tell myself, “The first crank is the hardest, Bud.”  And it’s true, the first crank of that pedal is the hardest.  It gets easier as I get into my rhythm.

And that’s the point of The Beginner’s Manifesto.  You’ve got to start.

I love Scott Dinsmore’s Beginner’s Manifesto. I think it is important life and career success advice. What do you think? What are you going to start today? Please share your thoughts with us in a comment. As always, thanks for reading my daily thoughts on life and career success. I value you. More important, I appreciate you.

Bud

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