Just Start

One of the most important books I’ve read in the past 10 years is The Now Habit by Neil Fiore. And by read, I mean, I read the title and the summary on Amazon. I got it. I didn’t need to read it. Here’s the gist: take action on an idea as soon as you think of it so that you don’t forget about it or let your inaction torture you.

It’s such a braindead simple idea, but it’s one of the key things that seems to set the most successful people I know apart from the rest. When they have a good idea, they take one small step towards doing it. Whether it’s giving it a name, sketching out a logo, or telling someone they’re going to do it. Suddenly, it goes from an idea, to a real thing. It’s tangible.

I can’t tell you how many wantrepreneurs I hear say things like:

“I’m spending the next six months evaluating some big ideas”

“I need to do some more market validation”

“I’ve spent the last few months writing my business plan”

Business plans are fine. Market validation is fine. But for gods sake just start something. Make it real. As soon as you give it a name in your head and tell a couple people, your consistency and commitment bias will kick in and you’ll be far more likely to actually make it happen.

What’s the one step you can take today to make something real? Just do it. Go!

Andrew Wilkinson is the founder of MetaLab, and lives in beautiful Victoria, Canada. You should follow him on Twitter 🐤