Starting is always the hardest part, isn't it?
Starting a new job, starting a new routine, starting a diet or exercise plan, starting a school or work project, starting the car on a cold day... you get the point. Starting may be the hardest part of anything but it is also without a doubt the most important part of anything. Without starting, where would you be?
There are no shortcuts or lifehacks that allow a person to avoid starting and still get any type of result. There is no way to get to the end without starting, and you'll never get anywhere by staying still. Even if one of those really annoying types of people (you know the type) argues something ridiculous like "you can stand still on a moving boat and still get somewhere!" And to that I say "Sure, hypothetical person with a hypothetical argument that I created mostly as a trauma response, you may technically be moving, but you're still in the same spot on the boat. So even if it feels like everything around you is moving really quickly, you still might be just observing it go by from the same spot you've always been in.
When it comes to a person's healing journey, a cool thing about starting is that you don't really have to start at any sort of designated beginning spot or starting point. Truthfully it doesn't matter at all where or how you start. It just matters that you do. You can start right where you are, exactly as you are, and you already have exactly what you need to do so.
This is the part where I wish I had the perfect advice or the perfect answer to the question "but how do I start?'. I just don't. I could offer advice for trying to change your mindset, or tips for setting up the perfect conditions to encourage an easy start, but that still won't make you start. I could warn you, scare you, and even threaten you in an attempt to make you start, but there's still a chance that doesn't make you start.
I could tell you to make a list of all the fears you have around everything involved with starting, but it still won't make you start.
I could tell you to recite positive mantras or affirmations such as "every step is progress, and all progress is a step", or "I got this" or "I will feel so proud of myself once I start, even if I don't get it all done", but that still won't make you start.
I could recommend daily meditation and yoga, and healthy eating to allow your brain to better assist you, but I still can't make you start.
I could tell you to make a step by step guide that is visually appealing that breaks things down in fun pieces for you, but I still can't make you start.
I could tell you to imagine or remember a time when you did start something you were intimidated by and it paid off, but I still can't make you start.
I could tell you to make a 'worry journal' and write down all your fears before you go to sleep at night to release them for the following day, but I still can't make you start.
I could tell you that everything you ever wanted is on the other side of starting, but I still can't make you start.
I just did all of those things, and I'm pretty sure I still can't make you start. At the end of the day, the only one who can do it is you and the only way to start, is to just start.