Why do I have a hard time starting things?

“I have a hard time starting things due to some unconscious fear. I want to figure out what it is.” If this resonates with you, then this self-inquiry exercise may be valuable to you.

(While the below inner dialogue certainly may not be fully about you, it is real. It isn’t altered for a more pleasurable experience, only for readability. If you find it useful, then do your own self-reflection.)

Self-observation on why I have a hard time starting things

• I really want to start that thing, but I am afraid of it. Why?
• It is because I feel I will not be able to concentrate on this thing I want to do.
• When I start it, I am afraid of what I will see.
• I think it will be something dreadful.
• I have a problem in me now which I ‘combine’ with the thing I want to do. I mean, I project my unconscious problem onto the things I want to start.
• Somehow, I am afraid I will not be able to do that thing. 
• It is too hard. I am blocked. I am traumatized. This is the core of the problem, I think. 
• I also feel sad.
• I feel unsafe. 
• There is a mess in me. I am mixing things up.

Chain of thoughts coming when I am able to go deeper

• The fact that I am afraid is only part of my thinking, but not the whole thing.
• There is a reason outside of my understanding why I have a hard time starting things.
• It feels that I am waiting for things to start to flow ‘naturally’ without me pushing them. It doesn’t feel right that I need to push things. 
• Maybe the time hasn’t come yet.
• Maybe my own self is helping me here so that I don’t do things that are not really for me.