Getting started is hard.  For lots of people, staring at a blank word document, facing an overflowing hall closet in need of organizing, or beginning to look for a new job can induce as much dry-mouthed, heart-pounding, sweaty-palmed panic as free-falling from an airplane.

I’m not immune to such anxiety, which is why it’s taken me a while to build up the steam to write my first blog post.   To borrow from the US Magazine column that showcases celebrities engaging in mundane activities like grocery shopping and pumping gas, “Psychologists!  They’re just like us!”

People have all sorts of reasons for dragging their feet on a project.  And, contrary to popular opinion, “laziness” isn’t usually one of them.   More often, it’s perfectionism that inhibits action.  If you’ve ever gotten stuck on the first paragraph of a draft because you keep rewriting the first sentence over and over, or if you haven’t even produced a first sentence because you can’t decide where to start, perfectionism may explain your struggles.  There’s also a scientific process at work here, called “self-handicapping.”  When you procrastinate so long that a looming deadline requires you to cut corners, you can make excuses to yourself for a shoddy performance.

So, in the spirit of practicing what I preach, I’m getting started.  I plan to write about matters big and small that relate to psychology and mental health.  I have strong opinions, but I’m also a big proponent of evidence-based practice.  So I’ll try to back up my viewpoints with facts and data.

I’m getting started.  If you’ve been putting off beginning something that’s important to you, I encourage you to get started, too.