Starting

Dear Tony,

Starting anything is generally the most difficult part.

Once you have figured out what to do, start as soon as you feasibly can. If you are having nagging feelings that something is off than you need to pay attention to that. That is a legitimate reason to postpone starting. On the other hand, if you honestly believe this step is the next step, and you are just nervous, then you should start as soon as you can work yourself up to it. Postponing things usually does not help and can make the anxiety worse. Many times I have needed to start things just because the difficulty of taking that step was still better than continuing to live with my anxiety about it. I have learned to start things as soon as I can. Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

You need to decide what you need in place before you can start something. It might be a certain time or access to specific books or other materials of an infinite variety of other factors. No one else can tell you what you need - it is specific to you. It is not reasonable.

Even today, when I start a new skill - even reading a new book - I burn out very quickly the first time I try. I often can only do the exercise for about 10-15 minutes, and then I can't focus. My brain needs to rest and adapt to this new skill on its own. Once I grow used to it I can do it for longer periods of time.