This article had been hanging in my saved articles for a while.
It seems fitting now that I am asking this question. Yes, how do you restart? Rekindling your love for writing is not as easy as A-B-C or shutting down your laptop or your mobile phone with just one click.
It is way more than that. To restart what you've stopped doing for a long time seems like an impossible task. Why? Because you're not used to it anymore. Gone were the days when you were driven by inspiration, (and motivated by need) that you check your thoughts and just write down what you were thinking about. Those days when you have so much to say and a good platform to share it with. Those days when your time is undivided with other responsibilities that are expected to be done.
So, how do I really restart? How do I begin again?
Down here are some tips to start again (based on my experience).
Find what drives you. In a world full of whims and wants, what do you truly aim for? I think that you'll be able to restart doing something when you think that there's a need for it, again, NEED. It's more than just whims and wants, it should be based on a goal in mind. Why have that goal? Why is there a need to achieve that goal? What will you gain from it? What will you do to get it? These are just some reflective questions that you can answer before deciding that it's time to do what you've been needing to do, what you're supposed to do, and what you should do.
Treat it as a reward. They say money can't buy happiness, I agree with that statement, but money can be a tool to find and experience it. When you got a chance to meet my younger ideal self, I would be telling you about how the love of money is the root cause of evil, and money can destroy you. Yeah, truly, it's not about the money, money, money... but if the thing that you should be starting to do can also pay you, who will say no to that, right? Do not let money take and control you, don't actually make it a motivation, treat it as a reward for doing the things that you love to do. And I tell you, you will be doing it over and over again. :)
Don't wait, just start. Are you familiar with "delaying tactics". As a crammer, I have the tendency to do that. It makes me smirk while writing this article when I realize that even in doing my decks/slides for class, I can't start the content unless I have a good slide template. What I'd do is to choose from a plethora of slides whether from slidesGo or Canva, and download them, type the title of my presentation on the first slide, and compare each of them. This delaying tactic can really delay me from starting the actual presentation. Then, I would realize later (and regret) that I've spent half of the day without truly accomplishing something. So, sometimes, you just need to do it. Like today, I think I don't have the energy to write another article, but I just visited that site and saw the article with only a title, and look, now I am here giving tips on how to restart.
Don't expect it to be perfect. Hey, don't be too hard on yourself. Since you are beginning again, don't expect everything to fit well like a puzzle. There might be missing pieces along the way. But don't let that stop you from continuing to do it. It's not gonna be a smooth sail ahead, sometimes, there will be big waves that can frighten you and make you think of giving it all up. There will be times when you might feel regret about why you've restarted something that you're not used to be doing anymore. Friend, I say, it's all part of it. Life is not always fun and laughter, there will be tears and sadness along the way. The important thing is that despite this, you still continue.
It's easier said than done, we all know that. But I promise you, when you focus first on the beginning, it will not be overwhelming... then as you go by, you'll see that you've come a long way, from that single step to restart.
Ganbatte ne!
Btw, in the next article, I'm thinking of sharing with you my experiences here in Japan, I hope you'd have time to read it and be inspired somehow. Doumo Arigatou gozaimasu!
"don't expect it to be perfect" I must say this is one of the biggest problem some people face, me particularly. In a quest to get the best I tend to over deliberate and it consumes too much of time. I think the idea is just to keep it simple