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There is the grogginess that’s settled on myself and everyone around me. The smoke has put a pall over what is usually the most beautiful time of year. The Delta Variant of Covid-19 is surging all across the US and the world. I feel like I’m in a mire of projects and should do’s want to find the motivations to do things that are interesting in theory until I start them. Last week looked like there were going to be a couple of quick breakthroughs, both for me and clients, but the clearing was short-lived.

A few weeks ago, I likened the feeling to the last couple of weeks before school starts-hot, sticky, slow, irritable.

Waiting for something new to start, but not quite ready for the carefree days of summer to end, either.

Waiting, with a combination of excitement and dread.

Waiting to see what you’re up against next.

Waiting to not be bored.

Waiting for a reset.

Waiting for a fresh start.

Waiting for our energy to return.

Waiting for inspiration to hit. 

General fatigue and boredom. 

This morning, my phone pinged, breaking my marginal focus on doom scrolling Facebook. Did I want to join a Tiny Habits (r) room on Club House?

The theme?

Starter steps.

I hopped on because it was novel. Interacting with people, and I have been meaning to practice talking about this stuff before a presentation this fall. This was my starter step. The Ping was my prompt—it was easy to click on the notification and open the app. My motivation was already there.

Starter steps are often the antidote to feeling stuck. Of course, hopefully you know what you’re trying to start, or trying to achieve. Starter steps are a small piece of a bigger habit. It might be putting on your shoes as a precursor to exercise. Or Opening your journal, instead of insisting that you need to write for 20 minutes. Once you remove the initial barrier by creating something super small, you often overcome your executive dysfunction or resistance and can continue with the habit or project. 

So what am I picking out of this conversation? Pick a project, pick anything. Just pick it, identify the smallest piece you can do right now, and just do it instead of trying to figure out if it is the most effective way to do something you’re not clear about. Waiting isn’t doing much for me and my mindset. Doing something might.

And yes, in this moment, I took the starter step that fell into my lap. But it now has me thinking about what can I be more intentional about building into my day tomorrow? What can make me successful for 20 minutes?

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