Perfectionism

How To Start Something When You Don’t Feel Ready

Do you keep telling yourself you're going to start that new goal on Monday morning or once you've settled into your new place or you've bought new workout clothes? Here's why you should stop procrastinating and start now.

One of the biggest downsides of being a perfectionist is that you don’t want to start things until you know you can definitely achieve them.

You want to wait until the time is just right to start that new gym routine, your healthy eating habit, finally saving money or even a blog.

You want all the information, you want to know it’s a sure thing and you don’t want to commit until you know you can achieve it.

Just start

But the time will never be just right – start now.

Not on Monday morning, not after you’ve settled into your new place, not after you’ve quit your job, not after you’ve found a boyfriend, not after you’ve bought new workout clothes, not after you read 20 blog posts about it.

Now. 

You already have all the information you need to get started so just make the decision and go.

Stop procrastinating.

The perfect time is now

Waiting until you know you can do something perfectly is not going to get you anywhere. You actually need to try it instead of just dreaming about.

Yeah, you might not be perfect the first time but at least now you’re getting somewhere – you have something to work with and you can iterate and iterate and iterate until you get there.

Dreaming big is the first step but you can’t just stop there. Start trying to live your dreams today, even if you don’t know if it will work out.

Just give it a go.

What do you think?

Is there anything you’ve been putting off until the time is ‘just right’?

Don’t forget that comments are always welcome and appreciated – I’d LOVE to hear from you!

Sam xx

Author: Sam Brown

  • I always put off the thoughts of finding an internship or thinking about my future concerning University. But these days I’m getting closer to the end of my b.a. and I am excited to research my future options & possible internships. It’s not easy, but it is a progress. That’s all I want! 🙂

    • Hi Isa,

      Thanks so much for sharing!

      This is something I struggle with too! I’m looking for an internship at the moment and I really find it hard not to procrastinate! (but it’s something I’m working on)

      To be honest I find looking for an internship quite confronting – it makes me feel like I’m less qualified then everyone else out there and that I’ll never get one! I know it’s not true but that’s definitely how I feel!

      Sam xx

  • The bit about iterations is just so true! Even if you gather all the information, your first try is never perfect. Isa, i am going through the same thing, looking for jobs and grad school. There is no better moment than the present to explore and try things

    • Hi Arianna,

      Thanks for your comment!

      Iteration is SO important and I think it’s really easy to forget that no one ever starts things perfectly. I certainly have never done something better the first time than the second, third or twentieth time – even if I did know all I needed to know when I gave it my first shot!

      Good luck with your job search!

      Sam xx

    • Hey Marie,

      Thanks so much for your comment – I’m glad you could relate to this post haha

      I checked out your blog on bloglovin and love it 🙂 Keep up the great work!

      Sam xx

  • This is something I’ve gotten better at since I graduated last year. I stopped waiting for the new year, the first of the month, Monday…I just did what I wanted and figured, the sooner I start, the sooner I’ll get results. It was definitely great for kickstarting my fitness regimen.

    Recently, I stopped doubting myself and just went ahead and start my blog. I was always afraid it wasn’t going to be as good as the blogs I read often or that I will never get anyone to notice it. It’s only been a week and it’s frustrating that there’s so much I don’t know and that traffic is slow. But hey, I can only go up from here!

    • Hey Alex,

      I LOVE your comment! And I love what you said – “the sooner I start, the sooner I get results”. So true!!

      And well done for just biting the bullet and getting started with your blog! I checked it out and it’s great!! (a lot better than mine when I first started!) As long as you keep putting in the effort the results will come!

      Sam xx

    • hahaha Dakota 😉

      A lot of the excuses I use are right on par with washing a cat (man I wish I had a cat!)

      Sam xx

    • Hey Laura,

      Thanks so much for your comment! I’m glad this post is something you could relate to! All the best!!

      Sam xx

    • Hey Claudine 🙂

      Thanks so much for your comment! I’m really struggling with finals and procrastination too (especially for my really boring subjects haha) All the best for your exams!

      Sam xx

  • LOVE this! I’ve definitely struggled with perfectionism getting in the way of things I want to do, and for me it had a lot to do with fear. Fear of failing, fear of putting myself out there and being criticized, fear of whatever. Then I realized that successful people are criticized (especially the more successful they are) and I’ll be waiting forever if I wait for all the fear to go away. Great post, Sam!

    • Hi Alex,

      I’m still really struggling with it too! I think I should have called this post “Just Start: A Pep Talk To Myself” and my procrastination has a lot to do with fear as well (mainly fear of putting myself out there and being criticised, but also in a weird way fear of success)

      Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! And go get ’em 😉

      Sam xx

    • Hi Josie,

      Thank you SO much for your comment! I’m happy to hear this post resonated with you!

      Sam xx

  • So true! Hesitation is deadly haha I read a great article in Time about things women need to start doing more like men and acting instead of overthinking is one of them–we’re prone to want to make sure everything’s perfect, while men just go. Great post!

    • Hi Jen,

      Thanks so much for your comment!

      I totally agree we over-think things way too much! We want proof that our efforts will pay off before we commit and we want to know that we have all the skills to perform the task before we’ve even started. I’m definitely trying to be a lot more willing to just give things a go and to just let myself learn things along the way!

      Sam xx

  • Hey Samantha! This is such a good post. As a fellow perfectionist, I had this same problem 😉 I finally just went for it, and started my blog. So far it’s been great! A lot of fun and hard work, but I’m learning new things and meeting new people everyday! A huge lesson I’ve taken from the experience is that you don’t need to have it all together or to know all the ins and outs before getting started. You just have to go for it, and figure it out as you go!
    http://www.designlifediaries.com

    • Hi Kelsie,

      Thanks so much for your comment! For me starting a blog was definitely one of those things where I really wanted it to be perfect and I found it really hard not to compare my blog to blogs that have been around for years! So I’m so happy to hear you just went for it and started it! Go girl!

      Sam xx

  • Hi Sam,

    I just started reading your blog. I really want to start budgeting and you have some great advice! I started a movie review blog 2 years ago and don’t get to as much as I’d like to but your ideas are really inspiring to help me keep up with it (and work out more). Part of the reason is definitely the perfectionist thing. It takes me way too long to get each post to look the way I want it to. How do you devote the appropriate amount of time to yours?

    • Hi Heather,

      Firstly, thank you so much for your kind words! I appreciate them SO much!

      And unfortunately I don’t know if I have an answer to your question because it’s something I still really struggle with! I’ve found the best way is to give myself a deadline (I try to post on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays) and I also usually only give myself 1 hour because if I give myself all day it would take that long to do it!

      But the most helpful thing has been to remind myself that I should just put it out there anyway even if it’s crap – it’s the only way to improve 🙂

      Sam xx

  • This is great advice. I’m constantly trying to find ways to start doing something by looking around at blogs or reading advice on how to do something, but never actually doing it!
    Particularly with exercising and eating well. :/
    Thanks for the encouragement. 🙂

    • Thanks so much for your comment! I have the same struggle too – too much reading and not enough doing!

      All the best!

      Sam xx

  • This is essential for me: what about your needs do you want to fulfill?

    // Do you want to have more art in your life but don’t know where to start? ask yourself what you want out of ‘art’…//

    -The movement of painting brush strokes?
    -The alone-time you get of sifting through magazines for collages?
    -Tapping into new skillsets such as figuring out depth/field in photography?
    -Being able to explain your reasoning behind the art choices you make?

    I break down a daunting task by asking myself what my interests are and zeroing in on just those.

    …Your blog is magic, btw. I love this for inspiration.

    xx
    Tina

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