The Starting Line

I confess that after all these years, when I’m at the starting line of a marathon, nervous butterflies still flutter around in my chest. At the starting line, I jump, stretch, take in the Tiger Balm aroma of the guy next to me,? while my mind whispers, “What if I bonk?” That’s the problem with beginnings—they come dressed up in hesitation and anxiety, like shadows lurking at the back of your mind. You know there’s something waiting for you on the other side, but you also know you’ve got to start to get to the finish. And let’s face it, the unknown is a hell of a scary place.

Last week, a friend asked me how I juggle so much in life—running a company, coaching, podcasting, playing in an orchestra, writing books, training for marathons. The truth is, I just start. Every time. I take that first small step, like a kid tiptoeing into a dark basement, not sure what waits in the corners. It’s never perfect, but it’s always a start. And here’s the secret: That’s where the magic begins. The act of starting has a way of shutting up those voices in your head that keep telling you it’s too late or too hard or too risky.

Starting something new has a kind of raw power in it—a magic that can’t be fully explained but is undeniably there, like the feeling you get when the lights go out and your senses kick into overdrive.

Plato called the beginning “the most important part of the work.”

When you begin, you crack open a door that’s been locked tight by fear and doubt. And just like that, the world starts to show you a different face.

Newton’s First Law of Motion says that an object in motion stays in motion, but we humans aren’t just any objects—we’re stubborn, flawed creatures. We like to sit tight, stay in place, and resist change. But once you force yourself into motion, the laws of momentum take over. Fear isn’t your enemy—it’s your tour guide. It shows you the way to the places that matter.

And let’s talk about the real monsters: fear, procrastination, and that sneaky little beast called regret. The longer you wait to begin, the bigger these creatures grow, feeding on your doubts, sucking the life out of your ideas before they even get a chance to breathe. But when you start—when you take that shaky, tentative first step—you turn the tables on fear. You make it your ally, not your captor.

As Kierkegaard said, “Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.” Freedom to fail, freedom to succeed, freedom to just be.

If I’ve learned anything from writing, running, or picking up a new tune on the ukulele, it’s that the toughest part is always that first step. Once you get going, once you build a little momentum, it’s like you’re riding downhill on a bike—legs pumping, heart racing, too caught up in the thrill to notice the bruises on your shins. Small victories turn into big wins, and the once-daunting goal shrinks down to size.

The worst thing you can do is nothing. Regret is the heaviest baggage to carry, and it’s always packed with the same things: the risks you didn’t take, the ideas you never pursued, the dreams you left to gather dust. Studies have shown that people regret more of what they didn’t do than what they did. The scariest thing in the world isn’t failure; it’s looking back and wondering what could’ve been.

So here’s my advice, and I say this with all the love and terror of someone who’s faced down their own monsters: Start. Begin. Even if it’s messy, even if it’s ugly, even if it’s the worst first step anyone’s ever taken. The power of starting isn’t in making a grand entrance; it’s in showing up, raw and real, ready to fight the good fight. Whatever your goal is, start now. Don’t wait for the perfect moment because that moment might never come.

The most important journey you can take is the one that gets you from where you are to where you want to be. And it all begins with that first, wobbly step. So take it. Jump. Dare the darkness to stop you. And remember, as Goethe said, “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” Let it work its spell on you.