Hey there 👋, have you started something that you are passionate about doing? If the answer Yes is knocking in your head already, congratulations, my friend, you are doing it right. I congratulate you because it is not an easy task. The task of starting something could be far more challenging than doing it.

I want to take this opportunity to put forward a few points to encourage you to start. It is never too late to start something you are passionate about. Most of the portions of this article are my experiences, and the rest is by observing and helping my friends to start. I hope you find it helpful.

Why Starting could be Difficult?

STARTING could be tough until we STOP a few things. Also, you will be mistaken if you think you are the only person facing this difficulty. Most of us are facing it daily. You may find that most people you interact with are neophobic - the fear of anything new.

Over the years, I've found some strong reasons that stop us to start. Let us face them together to understand how to overcome them.

I don't have Time

Time is precious. When you value time, you get the most from your life, career, and relationships. A widespread problem is putting off an initiative with an excuse of No Time and regret about it later.

If you don't have time for something, it means that the thing is not your priority.

So when it comes to your passion and doing something about it, first clarify if that is your priority. If so, the very next thing is to identify what can go off from your list of TODOs. You must take out one or more low priority items(even if it is glorified) from that list to get time for your passion and start.

I'll never say it is an easy task. But when you start practicing it, you will eventually enjoy doing it. You will have more time to do something that brings you happiness in completing it.

You will always get time for the thing most important to you.

A few tips may help to manage your time better,

• Prioritize your daily work and do not overcommit. My prioritization formula is N-(N * 0.3). I always have N items in my TODO list for a day and 30% of it as the stretch goal. There are no regrets for not getting started with that 30%.
• Create a schedule and organize your day around that. Keep following the schedule even if you don't meet your end goals.
• Reduce multi-tasking. It slows you down in the long run than actually helping you.
• Keep yourself distractions free. If it means waking up early, switching off mobile notifications at times, watching fewer TV shows, let be it.

I'm not Skilled

Skill is expertise in doing something. Unless you start doing, you can not build expertise on that. Hence, you will not be skilled.

You do not need the SKILL to START something. You need to START to build the SKILL.

What you need to start is awareness—an awareness of technologies, domain, people, platform, whatever is required to start. Once you start, then you build on it.

• Invest yourself in the areas to build your skills.
• Learn it, implement it, showcase it, teach it.

I'll do it Later

Procrastination is an act of delaying(not so clever) something, knowing there may be negative consequences of doing so. Yes, I am talking about procrastinating your high-priority tasks here.

There are several reasons why one may procrastinate,

• The fear of failing to complete a task.
• Overcommitting and losing interest in it eventually.
• Do not see/appreciate the reward for completion of the task.
• The fear of making mistakes. In other words, the affinity towards getting perfect may also cause procrastination.
• The fear of feedback(mostly negative).
• Laziness, lack of self-control, perseverance, and motivation.

When you have prioritized your goals, you need to continue to focus on completing them. Reward yourself for completing each of the milestones. Talk about it publicly on social media. Share your progress with your friends in the community. Making mistakes is common. It is about learning from it and move on.

But did you know you can still do productive procrastination? Read this fantastic article by Victoria Lo to get tips about Productive Procrastination.

No Inspiration, Help, or Resource

When it comes to learning, implementing, it is hard to do alone. The more complicated part is to grow alone as a technology enthusiast. You may need people to motivate and inspire you. You may need people to reach out for help. You may need the right resources to learn from. You need to encash on someone's experience and journey.

The easiest way to get all that is by joining technology communities. The tech-twitter community, relevant groups in LinkedIn, freeCodeCamp forums, hashnode community are just a few to mention here. Follow the right people, topics, learn and contribute.

What others Think of me!

Do you know what do we have in common? We both want to be appreciated, recognized, liked by others. It is common among all the optimistic people on this planet.

However, the problem comes when we start judging ourselves, our success, based on what others think about us! We slowly stop believing in our capabilities. The negative thoughts attract attention and spread like fire. It gets into our brain and mind to stop us from doing all that we could otherwise.

What others think about you is of minor concern when you know your capabilities and incapabilities.

Here are a few tips that may help,

• You spend more time with yourself than others spend with you. So, you are the most knowledgeable person on the earth to praise or correct yourself.
• You need some 'Me' time. It would help if you spent time with yourself. Much more than what you think you should be doing.
• People will have opinions, feedback, feelings. You are no one to stop that. Focus on what matters to you. Learn to ignore.
• There are millions of people you may interact with your entire life. Unfortunately, you can not please everyone. It means some may dislike you, and it is normal.
• Last, you are special and unique. Your perspective about yourself matters the most.

I'm an Introvert

So what? There is nothing wrong with that. That doesn't stop you from giving your passion a kickstart. I'm aware of many YouTubers, Bloggers who express themselves so well, also consider themselves introverts. One of the most introverted people we all admire was Albert Einstein.

At times, society makes the differences, and that may cause some heartburns. We are taught to be outspoken extroverts from kindergarten age. When we can't go by that book, society takes it in another way.

An introvert is equally expressive as an extrovert. It is just the platform of expression that differentiates them.

Btw, so far, you have been reading the expressions and journey of an introvert. Please let me know if that mattered to you anyhow!

I'm too Old

Old, how old? Very old to start learning to program? Old to start education? Old to build communities? Well, it is more to do with your mind and willingness than age. How old is too old? It depends.

If you are physically and mentally capable, age is no barrier.

Starting to program at the age of late 30, launching a YouTube channel at mid 40, starting a cooking show in late 50 is as potent for success as done by a younger generation.

In general, I prefer the term experienced over old or aged. Someone is starting late because the person was gaining experience in doing something else. That experience is invaluable when they learn something new, even in an entirely different domain.

I'll Fail

I assure you, you will fail. It would help if you failed and you failed fast. Then you learn from it and try again to succeed. Most of us stumble in our life. It is impossible to live a successful life without experiencing any failure. A failure lets you know the way it may not work so that you find another way to reach your goal.

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. -Thomas A. Edison

Here are a few tips that may help you to overcome this fear,

• Understand and evaluate your goals multiple times. Use your past experiences to check and balance them.
• Build positive thinking. Make yourself understand, "failures are inevitable".
• I've heard taking a break helps. However, for me, immediately planning my next activity help when I face a failure. Identify what gets you the focus back and do that.
• Last, do not ignore the learning from your failure. Think about it and start planning the next course of action.

Here is a masterpiece by Danny Thompson, I hope you fail.🙏🏽❤️. A must-read.

Now, a Personal story

Talking about the start, I have started my YouTube Channel(yep, in my late 30s) after hesitating for almost two years. All the eight points we have discussed above worked against the start. I just shared the plan that worked for me to start and live my passion. I wish, it does wonders for you as well.

Many thanks to my friends from Hashnode and Tech-Twitter communities for their support and encouragement so far.

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That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this article or found it helpful.

Let's connect. Please find me on Twitter(@tapasadhikary), sharing thoughts, tips, and code practices. Please give a follow.

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Before we end...

It’s never too late to be what you might have been. -- By George Eliot