The summer always seems like a good time to start up a project that you’ve been putting off. The days are longer, the weather is better and life generally feels a little more positive.

Nevertheless, it’s always scary to start a new project, regardless of when you’re doing it. There’s a fear of failure, or a fear that it won’t go as planned. Often, that can be the case; that a perfect is harder than anticipated.

I’ve taken a break from projects for a while as I have a tendency to make it increasingly complex or challenging until I definitely fail.

But I’ve taken some down time (not necessarily through choice) and it allowed me to pluck up the courage to just start it. Once again, I have given myself a few projects at the same time. The difference this time? No pressure.

I’ve learned that the most important thing is to not put too much pressure on yourself. So what if it’s not perfect? So what if it takes longer than you thought?

If it’s something that you want to do, then the best thing you can do is just start.

One of my projects this year is to write a book. I’ve released multiple books every year since 2022 but I was putting so much pressure on myself to reach these deadlines.

I have three books that are waiting to be written but I couldn’t start. One of them was a fantasy and I thought it’s because I needed to plan it out better than my other novels. I started researching tips for improving writing and planning novels as if I hadn’t already written multiple.

Finally, I decided to start an easier one and just start. I planned out roughly where I want the book to go and then I just started writing with no limits.

Usually, I would make sure that I write at least 1000 words in a single sitting, but this time, I decided to just let the story take me to start with. Allow myself some time to get into the story. I hope that I’ll manage to get it done this year, but it’s also alright if it doesn’t happen.

Another project that I started was organising my home. Over a few decades, I’ve accumulated a number of things and it was finally time to start letting things go. Once again, the hardest thing to do is to start. I found that just starting with one cupboard or draw is the best way. You have space to get everything out and if it’s overwhelming, you can stop at that one place, leaving the rest for another day.

Removing that pressure actually increased my motivation. Similarly when reading a book with short chapters, you end up saying “just one more chapter”.

On a slightly more creative note (as it should be with MyEFE), starting new projects can also mean starting new hobbies.

Because of an injury, I was bed bound for a number of weeks and it meant that I had time to start learning new skills that I’d always put off. Before that, I started learning how to paint using acrylic paint and I loved that. But, I was too scared of learning anything else incase I wasn’t as good.

Well, using acrylic paint in bed is pretty tough, so I decided to learn to sketch in a similar way. Just do it. I looked up a sketching tutorial until I found something that interested me and went for it.

The same happened with watercolour paints. I used a travel set so that it was less messy and followed a few tutorials. Some looked very amateurish but they are getting better and that’s kind of the point.

Starting a new project or learning a new skill is daunting. Because of that we often overthink it or lose the motivation. The best thing to do is just go for it. Naturally, a little bit of planning helps but at the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, “what’s the worst that can happen?”.

It’s okay if things aren’t perfect, or even good. That’s all a part of the process. If there’s something you’ve wanted to do for a while, like redecorate, learn an instrument or start a business, I’d encourage you to just go for it. Have fun with it and let loose.

It’s your life, enjoy it as much as you can.