Delay has a way of making a simple, ordinary, task seem more intimidating. 

Your mind rationalizes: you must think the task is hard, that’s why it’s taking so long. That’s why you’re hesitating.

The more time you give your mind, the more intimidating the story sounds. Maybe you’re even procrastinating, because it must be scary. 

Expectations rise. The outcome of accomplishing this task needs to change your life; you can’t afford to be wrong. Why else would you waste all this time waiting? 

So you wait some more. And plan. And research. And wait.

Your creative block gets worse. You feel more anxious around your romantic interest. You struggle to volunteer for a project at work. Even just thinking about the certification exam makes you sigh. You feel angry when you see someone else posting about their time at the gym, because you tell yourself your schedule is too full.

The task has gone from simple, to difficult, scary, and near impossible. You’re beating yourself up about it. Why, you ask yourself, can so many other people complete this task, and you can’t. Your mind repeats the stories it has rehearsed for as long as you’ve delayed.

You feel this way most of the time, until the brief moment it alleviates. Maybe a conversation with a friend, or a passage in a book, inspires you. Maybe you come across the right class to help you learn a new skill. Or you see someone else doing the task—instead of going to the gym, they do push ups at the park—and you remember that the task is simple. 

You’re used to feeling these moments, they come and they go. Today, you decide to do something different. You pick up the task, and you work on it. It doesn’t feel easy, yet it also feels possible. The effort flows out of you. Whatever the result of the task, you feel proud of yourself, and you reset your mind; the task was simple, after all. 

Stick to the whim. Do something today; anything, even if you feel unsure.

When you stand on a pool deck, the water seems cold. Then you see strangers dive in, and you feel energized. Your friend dives in, and you feel drawn to dive in as well. 

When you do, your nerves scream about the cold temperature for about a minute or two. Then you get used to it. It was never that difficult in the first place.