Dear Wizard,

I find myself unable to start a new project. I have written short projects such as short stories and novellas. However, this idea is big. I think it needs to be a novel. However, I am uncertain where to start with it. I’ve never tried to tackle such a big project before. And I don’t know how.

I’ve never tried to do it before.

This leaves me feeling intimidated and frightened. I want to try—but I feel like I am out of my depth. How go I get from where I am at to where I want to be, Wizard?

What can I do to help me reach my goals?

Sincerely,
Sally Wants Skills (she/ her)

Dear Sally,

When traversing the Universe there are challenges to the journey. As there are challenges to any journey. I think the first step to reaching for your goal is to acknowledge where you are right now. It is ok to be at the bottom of the mountain if your goal is to climb to the top. Beating yourself up for being at the bottom of the mountain before you even try to climb to the top if wasted energy.

Now that you have acknowledged where you are on your journey, you can begin to assess the further challenges of reaching your goal. First, I suggest that you have the tools you need to make your hike up the mountain successful. No one wants you to hike without boots, sunscreen and a bottle of water. That would leave you sun burnt, dehydrated and with blisters on your feet. Not a great way to successfully reach the peak of the mountain.

Once you have the tools you need, you can start your hike up the mountain to your goal of reaching the summit.
You do not know this mountain or these trails, so it is ok to acknowledge that there will be false starts, dead ends, and back-tracking. None of these are failures. You learn something new every time you have to track back to the main trail of your goal.

That is ok. The only failure in this process is giving up.

Along the way, you will meet people on the trail and some of those people will be supportive. Keep those people around and listen to them. There will also be detractors. If you cannot let go of the detractors, then try to counter their negative thoughts by continuing to work through your goals. Don’t allow their nagging, “You’ll never make it to the top of the mountain,” weigh you down.

You can counter that sort of thinking with: it is about the journey to the goal not necessarily just the goal. Or I am making progress to the top of the mountain even if I am not there, yet.

Ultimately, you are in control, you don’t have to allow the detractors to drag you back to the bottom of the mountain. Or even allow them to drag you away from the mountain. That mountain will be there, waiting, for you when you’re ready to climb it.
You can reach the summit, even if it takes longer than you thought you should or longer than you wanted it to. The summit is there and patient. Overcoming your own impatience and self-doubt at keys to continuing your climb to the top.

Sally, you can do it! You’re doing a wonderful job with where you’re at. And you can continue on your journey to make it to your goals. I believe in you. And hopefully this gives you the spark to believe in yourself.

Sincerely,
A Wizard