The beach is fun, right? You languish in the sun, read a good book, play in the waves.

Then when you turn your back to the water, a huge wave comes along and whallops you from behind and suddenly you’re spitting sand.

Oh sure, it’s funny when you watch it happen to someone else. It’s embarrassing as hell when it happens to you.

Doing something new is like that.

I’ve been trying to blog regularly on this site for the past six months. It’s still rough going. And I haven’t figured out exactly why. I love talking to people, sharing ideas, encouraging and motivating others. I thought this site would give me the chance to interact with more people and the stimulation would naturally lead to me generating lots of content. The first part happened (thank you Catherine, LaVonne, SusanJ, and all the others who made me leap around the room with joy when you commented on a post). The second part, not so much. At least, not yet.

I’ve struggled a lot over the past month with a few issues, and here are some thoughts that are helping me get back up, dust myself off and get back in the game. If you ever hit a road block, these questions might be helpful to you too.

How can you plug energy drains or get more energy?

Is something draining you? If so, can you take care of an issue that is an energy drain so it will stop dragging you down? Can you at least lessen the impact on your emotional or physical energy?

Likewise, is there something you can do to boost your energy? Can you get more sleep? Spend more time alone? Spend more time with others? This is where knowledge of personality type can help. Specifically, knowing whether you naturally focus on external stimuli or internal processing will help you when you realize you are down in the dumps and need a life but don’t know what to do.

If you are an extravert like me, you probably will gain energy if you interact with people. I don’t mean going to a crowded event or walking the mall. I’m talking about spending time with people you know and enjoy. If you are an introvert like some of my closest friends, you will probably gain energy from building some time into your schedule to reflect and think or take a walk in nature.

I’m also taking a look at what I eat and trying to eat a plant-based diet. I’ve fallen off the wagon so often in the past two years with this that I hesitate to mention it, but it’s worth trying again. You’ll hear more about this in upcoming posts.

Are you paying more attention to what you believe or what others believe?

Who thought someone could make a whole TV show out of picking junk out of people’s garages? Who believed a free website that asked for volunteer contributions could put make Encyclopedias obsolete? Who stood behind a dog lover from Mexico who dreamed of providing a refuge for unwanted dogs and helping Americans understand their pets?

If you are passionate about a cause and you believe it will help people solve problems, who’s to say it won’t work? There are lots of people in this world who are risk averse. They will caution you against doing things that aren’t the norm. You can learn from their stories about their experiences, but if you let those stories spook you into quitting you will lose any ground you’ve gained.

The only guaranteed way to fail is to take no action. Take one small step. Then take another.

Are you enjoying the process, or enduring it just to reach the goal?

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has written a lot about a state he calls flow and how important it is to enjoy the process, not just the expectation of the end result.

I’m currently reading his book Good Business, and I’m thinking about what I actually enjoy doing and how to do more of it.

I love speaking to groups. That’s my favorite thing to do in the whole world, and I get a rush every time. I haven’t been doing any public speaking. None. Not even at my Toastmasters club. It’s time to change that.

Do what you love. If you hope to succeed, make sure you love what you are doing.

Your turn

Have you hit a road block before? How did you get through it? Tell me in the comments.