Go. Start. NOW.

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Hanlie left this comment on my post about swimming yesterday:

I am very keen to start swimming. For years I’ve been trotting out every excuse in the book not to do it – my technique sucks, I’m not fit enough, I can’t breathe, the pool is too busy at the times I’m free, etc. But since I can no longer really walk, swimming is the only alternative. I got some books on swimming from the library, watched a lot of coaching clips on Youtube and I am ready! Now I must just find a good time slot in the evening.

My reply to her:

I have all those excuses too but I still go. Seriously my technique is shit. Ask Kepa. I swim super slow too – he can smoke me in 25 meters. My only benefit is I’m buoyant and can go long distances (thanks to practice because starting I could only do one length). There will always be excuses even when you improve. You just have to start. Go swim Hanlie!

One thing I know: there will always be excuses.

Sometimes they will be reasonable, sometimes they won’t. Sometimes they will be worth allowing, sometimes they won’t. Most of the time they won’t. It’s easy to want to be perfect before starting something but that rarely happens.

You have to start at the bottom and you can’t let starting at the bottom be an excuse. You have to just go out there and try it and suck at it so you can move on and get better. The beginning is rarely pretty but it is necessary to get to where you want to go.

I recognize this in myself a lot.

I wanted to do a triathlon so I went to the pool to start swimming. I sucked and could only go one length of the pool before tiring out. But I stuck with it.I wanted to snowboard so I went to a mountain and tried it out. I fell so hard so many times I cried myself to sleep the first night and ached the next day. But I stuck with it.

My beginnings are rarely pretty. I’m not naturally talented at many athletic endeavors. I could use that as an excuse. Or my weight could be an excuse. Or any number of things could be an excuse to avoid that first painful and/or embarrassing attempt. But excuses don’t make you better. They don’t let you improve so you can swim for 30 minutes or snowboard for hours or do anything else you really want to do. Giving into excuses and fear gets you nowhere!

You can’t get anywhere if you don’t start.

You can’t get better if you don’t try.

So Hanlie, go swim. Let me know how it goes. And the rest of you? Go try something you’ve been putting off and making excuses for that you think you might enjoy. (I think potential enjoyment is key… some things you might try and realize you hate and they aren’t worth doing which is okay too.) You might not be great at first but I’m 100% sure you’ll get better if you avoid the excuses and stick with it.

There is no better time than now to start. :)

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