Hey #001: To begin is never easy. Good news: It needn't be.

My tried-and-tested method to begin the hard beginnings 👇

I can't believe HeyEmotions is finally live and you're reading it right now. Yay. It feels surreal :)

I thought a LOT about what I should share in the first edition. I wanted it to be the befitting start. I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to knock your socks off.

So I kept thinking. Wrote a few drafts. Scratched them. Wrote a few more. But none of them gave me "This is it!" vibe.

I've been writing online for 5+ years. I tend to incline towards a free writing style. I begin with a rough idea. And I keep writing until I reach "Hmm. This is going somewhere."

But I didn't get that feel as I wrote different drafts for the first edition of HeyEmotions. Then it struck me – "There seems to be some discomforting thoughts and feelings. They're weighing on me. I'm avoiding to address them. Hence I'm finding it hard to focus and write."

So I asked myself,

Which discomforting thoughts and feelings am I avoiding?

I knew I needed to sit with this question so that I can produce some good writing. Hence that's what I did.

 I found out:

• I was scared of the first edition not being good enough. "What if people don't like it? What if it all turns out to be gibberish? What if they unsubscribe? What if…[enter worst case scenario #578392]?"

• I judged myself. "Ashi, you wanna explain the complexities of the inner world via simple words...! Who are you? Ernest Hemingway? This ain't your cup of tea. Leave it."

• Another voice in my head kept telling me, "You remember how many projects you've left unfinished in the past? You began with enthusiasm. But you didn't continue. HeyEmotions is gonna be another addition. You'll fail at momentum. Again."

• I was worried about how I'll gain readership for this newsletter. I had too much anxiety about gaining eyeballs for it. It gripped me already when I didn't even have the first edition ready!

• I wasn't sure of handling the technical aspects of maintaining a blog slash newsletter. There's not much technicality involved. But I was still doubtful. Duh.

Why am I telling you all this?

To remind you:

It's NEVER easy to begin.

Be it me beginning this newsletter. Be it you beginning to read that book that you want to. Or that conversation that you need to begin with your crush. Or that morning routine that you wanna begin from the "next" morning.

It's never easy.

And the best part is:

It need not be easy.

Yes, you read it right.

The task of beginning NEED NOT BE EASY.

You only need to identify the factors that are not making it easy.

That's THE secret to begin even the hardest beginnings.

But how to leverage this secret?

How to identify the factors that make it hard to begin?

Don't only clear your whys (aka your purpose) to begin. Identify the thoughts and feelings that appear (sooner or later) to sabotage your whys as you try to begin.

Let's face it. Beginnings are hard because they stir discomforting thoughts and feelings regarding numerous unknowns involved in the task at hand. Those thoughts and feelings make us question our expectations, confidence and determination, henceforth ruining our motivation to begin.

But the thing is, we can never really know all the unknowns. What we can do is – Let our feelings regarding those unknowns exist by allowing them, instead of avoiding or fighting them.

As we identify AND address these feelings, we start making peace with the unknowns that ain't necessarily in our control. This in turn helps us to stop stopping ourselves from beginning.

Like, my why to begin this newsletter was clear:

I wanna help people feel and express their emotions through HeyEmotions.

But was my why enough?

Heck no!

As I started writing the first edition, the Titanic of my “why" hit the iceberg of discomforting feelings, ultimately sinking into the ocean of demotivation.

And it happened on the pitch-black night of my denial to address discomfort.

It's when I had to take a pause and go a step further than only taking care of my why. I had to identify and address those discomforting feelings that were puncturing my "clear" why.

How did I do it? (hint: few paragraphs ago, you experienced it live :D)

By asking the question:

Which discomforting thoughts and feelings am I avoiding?

I took my time to identify those thoughts and feelings. Then I listed all of them, no matter how stupid they sounded. (Tip: the point here is to be honest with yourself. Judge it all you want. Still list it all out.)

Writing down my discomfort made me slide into the zone of accepting it.

Once I accepted it, I stopped fighting it.

Once I stopped fighting it, it loosened its grip over me.

Once it loosened its grip over me, I could actually begin.

And voila! In one go, I ended up writing what you're reading right now. (of course, a few rounds of edits were also there)

Have I dealt with my discomfort to begin for once and all?

Noooo.

I know it'll come back as I continue to write this newsletter every week. But I also know, I can now face it instead of running from it.

And facing it is enough to begin.

…even when it’s never easy to begin :)

See you next Thursday,

Ashi (@ashiwiz)

🦋

ps: You may as well write your discomforting thoughts and feelings w.r.t. beginning on a paper. Stick that paper in front of your work table. It'll remind you what you maybe running from whenever you feel stuck or demotivated as you continue with the task at hand. It's better than keeping only your why (purpose) in front of your eyes all the time.

pps: Yep, this email is the result of the draft that gave me "This is it!" vibe. But that's what I felt. How did you feel after reading it? Did you like it? Yay? Meh?

I'd love to know your feedback and suggestions. Hit reply? :)