You know something? Just because you start something, doesn’t mean you have to finish it. You don’t have to finish it right then and you don’t have to finish it ever. And that makes it *so* much easier to start.
Sometimes, video is a better format for what I want to get across. And when I’m making the video, I enjoy it, but when I *think* about video, it feels like it just takes so much. Make notes, record, edit, upload, post… I’m as likely to wander off as I am to get started.
Not Even Baby Steps
Knowing that you can stop is a lot like chunking. Only, you don’t have to separate it into multiple steps, you just start. Then, you stop whenever you want. When I’m doing videos, I usually stop after I record. Then a couple days later I start again with editing.
It works with things like the dishes you didn’t do for three days, because you were so tired. You just start. Knowing that you can stop, whenever. You don’t have to finish right then.
Or making a big purchase. What if you knew when walking in, that you really could leave whenever you wanted? The dishwasher will still be there when you come back.
Talking, It Makes a Girl Tired
The other day, I took my bike in for service. It hand’t been ridden in forever and I wanted someone who knew what they were doing to give it a once over and I am so not that someone. They called me and told me what they recommended doing. I may have confused them when I said “Let me think on this and call you back in half an hour,” since it probably seemed like a simple decision to them. I wanted time to stop and think. And taking that time made me feel more confident in the decision I made.
Making a practice of stopping makes it easier to stop when it’s more more difficult to do so. It wasn’t that long ago that I would have felt like I need to give the guy at the bike shop a final decision right then.
Do you make a practice of stopping? When do you like to use the idea of being able to stop?
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In the comments:
We’re being open here, sharing and saying things we don’t always say out loud. What helps: Sharing your stories and Ideas. Cheering and telling what works/worked for you. What hurts: shoulds, harshness, and such. (I used to teach first grade, I can’t help it.)
Tags: anxiety, Awareness, baby steps, choice, Experiment, hsp, introverted, Learning Experience, perceptions, reserved, shy
