"Find your why."
It’s a common piece of advice: Don’t focus on what or how, not at first. At first, find your why. Because without a solid why, without a reason for embarking on your new path, you won’t be motivated to make the change.
But finding your why takes space and time you might not have yet.
And besides, you already know that you want to do the thing. Does it really matter why you want to do the thing if the desire is there?
Eventually, sure. But it isn’t necessary for taking the first step.
Take the first step.
Then take the second.
Then the third.
These steps compose your initial what. Want to become a minimalist? Don’t worry about why—not yet. Just focus on the fact that you want to, that what, and turn that what into action.
Get rid of your second television. Donate the books you’re never going to read. Cancel the appointments you’re dreading going to.
Now look around. You might see you have a little more space than you did three days ago, a little more time.
Space and time you can use to pause and find your why. That is, if you haven’t found it yet, in the course of the doing.
Which there’s a good chance you have.
Now you can keep moving forward.
You could have been moving forward all along.