Right On, Herr Moore

My 11th grade composition teacher was Mr. Moore. Since he was also the German teacher, he was referred to as Herr Moore.

Herr Moore looked like a caricature of a 1920's Wall Street fat cat played by John Lovitz ... before the crash. Bow tie. Cummerbund. Sweat pouring off his head. He was bulbous nosed, portly, with big, black circles under his eyes and a chin that melted onto his shoulders, disguising the place where his neck should have been.  

(I'm getting to my point, hang on.)

Herr Moore passed on a few words of wisdom that I thought about today on my run. Words I think about more often than he could have imagined, actually.

When someone in comp would complain about not knowing what to write about, preventing them from putting pen to paper, Herr Moore said,

"Just start."

Then he explained, "The best way to start your story is to just start. You can always move stuff around or change it later. Just get something down on the paper and keep going. And pretty soon, you've got a good chunk of it done. Looking at a blank piece of paper is the hardest part. It gets easier once you have something there. The ONLY way to start is to just start."

(OK, that's not an exact quote. My memory isn't that good ... I mean, it's been 27 years. But that's the meaning of his advice as I remember it.)

This one piece of advice got me through a journalism degree. And a reporter job. It's also helped me in my career more than I care to admit. Not sure what to do? Just start and you'll figure it out. Don't know where to start? Pick a spot, dig in, and soon the right path will reveal itself.

I was thinking about it again today as I set out on one of my old, favorite running routes.

How do you get stronger? You stop making excuses and start working a little harder and a little longer.

How do you eat better? You stop eating badly and you start making healthier choices.

You just start.

You don't have to sweat for 2 hours or have an elaborate workout planned. You don't have to switch to only celery or have every meal planned out from now until next month.

You just start. You make up your mind and start.

You can develop a workout schedule as you figure out what you like and feel what works best for you. You can pass on the co-worker's cupcake birthday treat today and decide to not eat after 7 p.m. this week.

You just start.

Right (write?) on, Herr Moore. Thank you.