Man, lemme tell ya, getting started on anything new, especially a big project, used to just paralyze me. I’d stare at the blank screen, or the pile of parts, or that big ol’ manual, and my brain would just freeze up. I’d have these grand ideas, right? Like, “I’m gonna build this thing!” or “I’m gonna learn that skill!” But then the sheer size of it all would just hit me, and I’d end up doing absolutely nothing. Just scrolling on my phone, feeling kinda bummed.
For years, this was my routine. Get excited, get overwhelmed, get sidetracked. It was a vicious cycle. I knew I had to break it, but how? I mean, all the gurus out there talk about “SMART goals” and “breaking it down,” and yeah, that’s fine and dandy, but for someone like me who just needed a kick in the pants to start, it felt too much like another hurdle. I needed something dirt simple, something I could just grab onto when my brain decided to turn into mashed potatoes.
So, one frustrated afternoon, after another project went nowhere, I just grabbed a napkin and started scribbling. I needed some “action words” or “awords,” something to remind me what to do at each tiny stage. Something I could actually remember when I was drowning in the initial overwhelm. And that’s how I came up with my own personal “7 Awords.” They’re not fancy, they’re not from some business school textbook, they’re just what worked for me. And man, did they make a difference.
My 7 Awords for Getting Off Your Butt
- Acknowledge: Face the beast. See the fear, the overwhelm. Just acknowledge it’s there.
- Aim: Set a super tiny, almost ridiculously small goal. Not the whole mountain, just the first pebble.
- Act: Do something. Anything. Even if it’s for just five minutes. Move your hands, type a word.
- Adjust: Things will go sideways. Plans will fail. That’s okay. Just tweak it.
- Ask: Stuck? Don’t know? Ask someone. Look it up. Someone out there knows.
- Assess: Take a breather. Look at what you’ve actually done. Did it work? What next?
- Advance: Take the very next small step. Keep that momentum going.
Now, lemme tell you how I actually put these to work. My big hang-up was this idea I had for automating some stuff around the house. Nothing super complicated, just like, getting lights to turn on when I walked in, maybe a little temperature control, stuff like that. But every time I thought about it, I’d picture all the wiring, the coding, the figuring out, and just shut down.
The first time I really decided to tackle it with my “awords,” I was literally sitting there, staring at a blank text document on my computer, ready to give up before I even typed a word. That’s when I hit the first one: Acknowledge. I sat there for a minute and just thought, “Okay, I’m feeling totally overwhelmed. This feels too big. I’m afraid I’ll mess it up or look stupid.” Just saying it in my head, seeing it, somehow made it a little less scary. It was like, “Yeah, that’s what’s happening. Cool. What now?”
Then came Aim. Instead of “automate the whole house,” I forced myself to think, “What’s the absolute tiniest piece of this I can do?” I decided, “I will just figure out what kind of smart bulb to buy for the living room.” That’s it. Not even buy it, just figure out what kind. It felt so dumb, so small, but it was a goal.
Next up was Act. This was the hardest one, because it’s where the actual doing starts. But my goal was so small! So, I opened a browser tab. Typed “smart bulbs review” into the search bar. I let myself read for maybe ten minutes. Just skimmed some articles. And that was it for “Act” that day. Ten minutes. But it was something.
A few days later, I came back to it. I had decided on a brand. Great. But then I realized that bulb needed a hub, and I hadn’t even thought about hubs! Panic started to creep back in. But then I remembered Adjust. “Okay,” I thought, “my plan for ‘just buy a bulb’ needs adjusting. I need to understand hubs.” It wasn’t a failure, it was just a new piece of the puzzle. My aim shifted from “find a bulb” to “find a bulb AND understand its hub requirements.”
Naturally, I hit a wall with the hub stuff. There were so many options, so many weird acronyms. So, Ask. I didn’t have anyone personally who knew this stuff, so “asking” for me meant hitting up a few beginner forums online. I just typed out a super simple question: “Hey, total n00b here, looking at X brand bulbs, what’s up with Y hub and Z hub?” And boom, within an hour, I had a couple of decent replies pointing me in the right direction. It wasn’t hard, I just had to overcome the slight embarrassment of asking a “dumb” question.
After collecting some info, I did my Assess thing. I looked at the bulb I wanted, the hub options, and some basic info I had found. I saw a clear path forward now. I knew which hub made sense for my simple needs, and I understood enough to make a purchase decision. It felt good to actually see the progress, however small.
And finally, Advance. With all that simple info, I went ahead and bought the bulb and the hub. The very next day, I plugged them in and, following some instructions I found, connected them. And guess what? The light turned on from my phone. It was a tiny win, a minuscule step towards my big dream, but it was actual progress. It felt incredible, like I’d actually climbed a little hill instead of just staring at the mountain.
I’ve used these same “awords” for learning a new programming language, for cleaning out my garage, for planning a small trip. Each time, they just remind me to get out of my head, break it down to silly small parts, and just do something. It’s not about being a genius or having all the answers up front. It’s about taking one small, often clumsy, step after another. And before you know it, you’re looking back and realizing you actually built that thing, or learned that skill, or cleaned that garage. It’s truly amazing what just starting, and keeping those few simple thoughts in your head, can help you achieve.
