The Challenge of Taking the First Step: 90% Effort

Understanding Why Starting Is the Hardest Part and How to Overcome It

When You Have 10 Steps to Take, 9 Steps Are Halfway There, and the First One Is the Hardest, Representing 90% of the Effort.

If you’re feeling lost, sit down and write answers to the following questions:

1. Who do you want to become?
2. Who do you not want to become?
3. What 3–5 things can you do today?

You’re lost because you don’t have a direction to work towards, an enemy to defeat, or tasks to guide you toward your goals. It’s true — life rarely confronts us with simple or effortless challenges.

Whether we’re starting a new project, making a significant life change, or striving to achieve an ambitious goal, we’re often overwhelmed by the thought of what lies ahead.

You want to go out for a run, but it’s simply overwhelming knowing that you’ll be running a marathon in a few months.

Paradoxically, a goal may require ten steps to achieve, yet the first step is the most difficult. In reality, that first step consumes 90% of our energy. This is often the true obstacle that stands in our way.