Have you ever had one of those days when you decide you're finally going to start something new, but when you wake up the next morning, you just can't bring yourself to do it?
Or perhaps you've made a decision, gotten everything ready, and felt completely prepared. But when the time comes to follow through, something happens, and you don't.
Have you ever wondered why?
A lot can be happening here, and much of it comes down to human behavior.
Some people thrive on routine, while others love change. Some find trying something new exciting, while others find it uncomfortable. And some people feel as though they simply cannot change, no matter how much they want to.
All of this can influence how we approach something new.
When we decide to do something, we're thinking about the outcome. But actually doing it involves a different process. We have to interrupt what we're accustomed to, figure out how the new behavior fits into our lives, and navigate whatever obstacles come up along the way.
Our brains learn through experience and repetition. When we do something familiar, we already have a sense of what to expect. When we do something new, we don't necessarily have that experience to draw on.
So even when we're ready, willing, and genuinely excited about making a change, getting started may still feel surprisingly difficult.
I see this frequently in my coaching practice. Someone wants to do something but sees the entire task as one enormous obstacle. Take starting to exercise, for example. Going to the gym can feel like one huge thing to accomplish. But what happens if we break it down into smaller pieces? Getting dressed, walking out the door, driving there, walking inside, and exercising are all separate actions. What initially looks like one enormous task is actually made up of several smaller ones. And once you've done something for the first time, you have something you didn't have before: experience.
The next time, you know a little more about what to expect. You know you've done it before. It may still require effort, but some of the unfamiliarity is gone.
As we repeat a behavior, our brains continue learning. The actions become more familiar, and with time and consistency, some may begin to require less conscious effort.
There's also another interesting piece to this.
How did doing it make you feel?
Maybe you enjoyed the exercise itself. Maybe you didn't enjoy it at all, but you liked the feeling of having accomplished something. Maybe you felt proud, relieved, or simply glad it was done.
Our brains respond to experiences we find rewarding. Those positive feelings can help reinforce a behavior and make us more inclined to repeat it.
And as we repeat it, something that once seemed unfamiliar or overwhelming may gradually become part of our routine.
Of course, that doesn't mean continuing is always easy, or that every new behavior automatically becomes a habit. Life happens, circumstances change, and obstacles don't necessarily disappear just because we've done something before.
But understanding what's happening can change how we interpret that initial difficulty.
The next time you decide to try something new and find yourself struggling to begin, perhaps you'll recognize that the difficulty doesn't necessarily mean you don't want it enough, or that you can't do it.
It may simply mean you're asking yourself to do something unfamiliar.
And once you understand that, the difficulty of starting doesn't have to become the reason you decide not to try.
Art Prompt: The Feeling of Beginning.
Think about the last time you started something new. How did it make you feel? Using any medium you like, create something that expresses that feeling. Now look at what you've created. What do you notice about those feelings? How might they have influenced your experience of starting something new?