Start where you are

As  the statement above seems to be a sound advise, However it lacks sufficient force in itself to get you  where you want to be.  The fact is, nobody can start where he hasn’t gotten to, everyone has to start where they are.

“Starting is just the act of igniting the engine of success, while discipline, persistence and focus determination are the fuel that will supply the energy to get you to your desired destination in life’s journey.”

What does it mean to start?

Starting means putting into use your acquired skills and experience through proper plan and focus to attain a worthwhile life goal.

Preparation is not ‘start’

The preparation stage is a pre-start stage.
  It is the stage of studentship, apprenticeship or discipleship training, it is the stage where you acquire the skills and training needed to launch out in life. You learn what you need to attain your life goals, so they are not the goals in themselves.


Imagine someone with the best education in life who sat idle, doing anything with what he/she learns, what do you think will become of such person? Nothing, absolutely nothing, may be failure.

 Many confused preparation with with actual action and so got stuck at this stage  than necessary. Preparation is to a Start just as foundation is to a building and no matter how strong your foundation is you can’t live in it.


Acquisition of knowledge, skills and idea is not limited to the preparation stage. It is continuous and never ending process. That’s why it is unwise to think you can acquire all you need to succeed before executing your plan of success.

I’m not of the opinion that acquiring reasonable amount of skills  required to undertake a task is bad, on the other hand it is unwise to think that you are to know everything before starting and much more unreasonable is to venture out with an insufficient knowledge  to get you  to success in your vocation.

Do something with what you already know.

I love sharing ideas and advise with people, about three months ago,  I began to think of  better ways to facilitate this using social media and blogging platform. I researched on the tools to get this done and set out to learn them.

Though I had the option of hiring experts to help me to design of my blog but i felt it will be fun learning to do it by myself, and it was.

I trained myself by reading books, articles and watching tutorials on YouTube to facilitate my learning. I learned graphics design, blogging on WordPress and some other relevant software. I went through some rigorous training learning blogging and social media content creation. However, I felt limited because I wasn’t satisfied with what I  knew compare to what I need to know.


Few days ago I asked myself what had been keeping me from starting. It was through my self analysis that I discovered that I’ve been stuck at the preparation stage.

"Man improves himself as he follows his path; if he stands still, waiting to improve before he makes a decision, he'll never move." -Paulo Coelho

I did all the tweaking of this blog by myself, I knew how to do this since three months from writing this blogpost but I wasn’t satisfied with it and so it was difficult to improve on what I never started.

Before I started blogging, I didn’t know the difference between hosting and domain name,  and now that I know better I see no reason to have waited all that long before getting started. Am I satisfied with my blogging and design skills? Not at all, but overtime if I did not relent I shall get better.
I shall attain a level that I will be  proud of.

Aim for Growth and Development

When you start anything, learn to aim for growth and development, this is more essential than immediate perfection.

Growth in career or vocation does not come naturally like the physical growth. Even physical growth does not come without artificial contributions. If not for the fact that your body is built  such that you get hungry when you use up your energy,  many death would had been recorded for failing to eat than through starvation when their is nothing to eat.


It is evident that many people are dead or close to death in many areas of their life due to the failure of nurturing themselves.

In other areas of life: spiritually, intellectually, financially and other ‘llys’ you can live without growth  if you fail to supply the emotions,faith and conscious discipline needed. That’s why you must continually aim for growth and development while you make provision for the required plans to acquired the skills, training and knowledge needed to aid you in achieving your coveted destination.


There might be many things on your mind to get done but the first thing  to start with is the skills and training you already possess, and persist in refining your skills as you grow through hardwork and discipline.

Don’t get stuck at the preparation stage. Nobody can tell how much you prepare if you have nothing to show for it. Move to the execution stage, start where you are, always aim for growth and development. – Olamide Bamisile