Why start anything?

How to get ahead...

I don’t like to be too hasty, except when I do.

It took me years after I knew I should stop drinking alcohol before I actually took action and stopped. And the same is true of this blog/newsletter/thing!

I tried writing a blog years ago. I called it ‘dampshorts’, because they were short blogs about sitting in damp shorts at the edge of a pool while I watched qualified instructors try to teach my youngest to swim. After a while, it became obvious that he was never going to swim until he decided it was time. So the lessons stopped, and with them, stopped the blog.

I sometimes think that because I was never good at ‘English’ at school that somehow I’m not qualified or worthy of being read. However, the last time I studied ‘English’ was in 1985 so perhaps I’ve picked up a word or two?

Who knows what is the right thing to do? Not I, that’s for sure. And most of the people who will definitively tell you what to do, I find, are not worth listening to. They’re the people who tell you to think through what you want, and then set goals on the path towards what you want. Their advice reminds me of the punchline to an old joke, “If I was going there, I wouldn’t start from here.” They are the people who make me feel inadequate when they ask me about my 5-year plan.

I’ve never had a 5-year plan, and I rarely plan much further than a couple of weeks.

I just had a funny thought. I haven’t heard many people talking about 5-year plans during this pandemic. So ironically, maybe it’s only me mentioning such things!

Two quotes come to mind:

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t. You are probably right.”

“The best way to get ahead is to get started.”

So I think I can do this blog/newsletter/thing and so I have started.