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Momentum Begins with One Step

 

 

As the holidays creep up—and let’s be honest, sprint toward us—I always feel that yearly tug in a million different directions. I tell myself, This is the year I’ll slow down. This is the year I’ll savor the moments. And every year, without fail, I’m suddenly overscheduled, overtired, and fully submerged in the holiday hustle. Maybe you feel that too: the pull to do everything, be everything, and somehow stay balanced through it all.

So today, I want to dig into something that feels especially timely: getting started. Not after the holidays, not when life slows down—because we both know it won’t—not when it feels convenient or perfect, but now. Because “someday” is the biggest dream-killer we let linger in our lives.

If you’ve followed me through the last five and a half years of this podcast, you already know I’m not a New Year’s resolutions girl. I don’t believe in them. The moment we attach the idea of January 1st to our goals, we create an escape hatch where quitting feels expected. And most people do quit. Not because their goals weren’t worthy, but because the whole concept of a resolution is built around hype, not habit.

So let’s shift the mindset. Let’s reclaim the idea that today is always the right day to begin.

 

It took a lot of practice in safe areas before I could navigate rugged, mountain terrain.

 

There’s a quote I love by Zig Ziglar: “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” And it hits me hard every time because I’ve lived that truth. I think of my husband explaining his work to our boys. Half the time I’m listening like he’s speaking another language. I’m not dumb—I’m just not educated in his world. And he’d be just as lost if I handed him a halter and asked him to read a horse’s body language.

Greatness, skill, confidence—they aren’t innate. They’re built through countless clumsy, uncertain beginnings.

 

And yet, I’ll be honest with you: I’ve held myself back from starting things I deeply want to do, simply because I wanted to be great before daring to begin. I didn’t want to stumble. I didn’t want to look foolish. I didn’t want to muddle through the awkward first steps.

Sound familiar?

But the truth is this: we must begin before we’re ready. We must risk the messy beginnings. We must accept that expertise is the reward of showing up, not the prerequisite.

 

 

And nowhere has this been more true for me than in my life as an amputee.

Arthur Ashe said, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” If that doesn’t describe the amputee journey, I don’t know what does.

Where you are right now might be a hospital bed. It might be a physical therapy room. It might be your living room floor trying to figure out how to put on your first liner. You might be in the trust stage with your prosthesis—or the frustration stage. Maybe both.

But wherever you are, you have something you can begin with.

 

Even in the hospital bed I was journaling, goal setting and reading about ways to attack my goals and letting go of the “Hurry”.

When I was recovering from surgery this summer, stuck in a hospital bed, I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t train. I couldn’t be in my prosthesis. But I could start lining up appointments. I could coordinate with insurance. I could talk to my prosthetist and prepare for the moment my surgeon cleared me. I wasn’t waiting for life to happen to me—I was setting the stage.

And when that first prosthesis went on, and it felt like a ten-pound concrete block strapped to my body, all that preparation mattered. My muscles were weak. My endurance was gone. And I had absolutely NO idea how exhausting simply walking to the end of my block would be. But that’s where starting came in.

I didn’t begin by walking miles. I began by walking houses.

I didn’t build strength through ease. I built it through effort.

One of the best things I ever did was join a 175-mile virtual challenge. At the time, I thought, Two miles a day? Easy. Wrong. My first day wasn’t even a quarter mile before I had to stop. But every day, I pushed a little farther—one house, two houses, one street, one block. Eventually, those tiny victories strung together into big victories. And then into medals. And then into confidence.

Today, I’ve completed around twenty-five virtual races. And I didn’t start able to do any of it. I started barely able to walk in my own house.

That’s what starting does. It reshapes your identity from the inside out.

 

So here’s my challenge to you: begin today. Not a week from now. Not when you “feel ready.” Not when you believe you’re strong enough or smart enough or capable enough. Begin now, with exactly what you have in this moment.

Pick one goal—not fifteen. One thing you’ve been afraid to start or have kept putting off. One thing that makes your heartbeat pick up when you imagine accomplishing it.

Then write down the steps. What can you do today? What’s the smallest action that moves you forward?

You don’t need perfect conditions. You need commitment.

And as you start, give yourself grace. Some days will be setbacks, especially if you’re healing. Some days your body won’t cooperate. Some moments will feel defeating. But don’t let a bad day turn into a bad week, and don’t let a bad week become a lost year.

Warriors rise. Warriors begin. Warriors keep going.

I’m starting my own new goal today. I promise that. And I want to hear yours. Message me on Instagram at @BAWarrior360. Let’s do this together. Let me be your accountability partner if you need one.

Because the secret to getting ahead is simple: get started.

Have a blessed week ahead, and as always,

Be Healthy,

Be Happy,

Be YOU!!!

Much love,