The first step is to start

Strong agreement. You learn a lot more by doing than by fantasizing about doing some day. You'll also get a lot more mileage out of your book (or web) learning with just a little practical experience. I guarantee you, within 2 weeks of hanging out your shingle you'll have a radically different, improved perspective on where your actual business challenges are. (The stupid, detail-oriented mechanics of business like "charge customers' credit cards" and "incorporate" and "do bookkeeping" paralyzed me for so long prior to actually starting. It turns out that these matter so much less than e.g. marketing it isn't even funny, for my business at least.)<p>My one suggestion: get a mentor. Plumb them for advice. Thomas has taught me more about consulting (beginning with "You know, you could do consulting.") in three minute chunks than I managed to learn in my entire life, even in six years while employed by businesses which did consulting.

And the next step is to finish what you start, no matter what. Andre LaMothe, founder of xgamestation, a video game development kit company, and author numerous programming books including "Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus", describes how he motivates himself. I've always found this quote inspirational when I lose steam on a project:<p>"Hmm, that's a hard question. I guess that the best answer is that by the time you are old enough to understand that you are NOT going to be a rock start or a unique, beautiful snowflake, it will be too late. Lack of motivation fundamentally comes from fear -- you are afraid to do things since you don't think you can do them internally -- which is 99% true.<p>However, the good news is that if you REALLY try to do anything, there is nothing that you can't do within reason of course. So my suggestion is simple and basically how I start anyone I mentor -- start with ANYTHING that you want to do, something small. Then start it, work on it everything single day until its done, I don't care if you are sick, haev to work, goto school, your girlfriend wants to do something, whatever, just work on it everyday -- at some point you will get to a point where you find your own mental limits, this is usually the point where every single person quits and then sells themselves the bullshit concept, "I could finish it if I wanted"-- this is crap, the fact is THEY can't finish it, but this is just the moment of transformation -- now, here is where you are going to triple your efforts, read whatever you need to read, and finish it, no matter what -- And if you don't think this advice is true I have heard it personally from every single iconic computer person on the planet -- the key to success is so simple -- just finish everything.<p>You will never become motivated, until you don't need to become motivated then you will be motivated, hard to explain, but that's the way it works --<p>Additional, arguement -- what are you doing anyway? If you aren't 10x smarter than everyone now, how will you compete in 10-20 years? Imagine the math, physics, computer science, nanotech, biotech, etc. that will be common then -- thus, you better get crackin! There is so much work to be done and no time to do it -- if you are less than 40 and aren't working at least 15-18 hours a day you are not working enough, you simply can't compete with the best in the world unless you are willing to throttle it that much --<p>NeCroN.TTL "

As an interesting counterpoint, I often find myself with the exact opposite problem: I start too often. It's to the point now where I have 4 or 5 active side projects, and then I think of something else cool that I want to build... and then it's hard to actually work on and continue with them, especially after the 'fun stuff' of the initial creation is over.

"You probably don’t even know what skills you need, so don’t worry about it. Start with what you already know."<p>For my first startup, I created the whole site from scratch. I had developed software for years and thought I had a pretty good handle on things.<p>I did know <i>some</i> things, but was surprised by how many gaps there were in my knowledge. Coding something from the front end all the way to the back was a great way to learn.<p>That's not to mention the business and legal knowledge I gained. There's so much involved in even getting a small project going, that you can really only learn by doing.

Good advice.<p>My only word of caution is to know what you're getting into. Programming is hard. It doesn't mean you can't do it, that you shouldn't try, or that starting is hard, it just means that it will take a lot of time and practice to do it well--and beginners tend to underestimate this.<p>And another thing: if your primary reason for wanting to build a web app is to make money, that's fine, but make sure that you enjoy the process of creating as well. If you end up not enjoying the programming side and seeing it as merely a means to an end, you won't be able to do it well.

Great simple advice. Nike sums it up even shorter with "Just do it." And if you read between the lines, it says "Don't think." I'm not saying don't think at all of course, but one of the biggest things that keeps someone from getting started is overthinking. Overthinking what's needed, how much, how hard, what will happen if this, or that, when's the right time, what if it's a waste of time, and on and on.<p>Their second piece of advice that they infer in the article is the best way to learn is by doing. Because that's another big obstacle to starting, believing one is not prepared to get something done, and that the person just needs to learn a bit of knowledge before he or she gets started. Just start and learn along the way. How else did we learn how to walk when we were babies?

Is life about repetition and habits? I think so and I think that's the underlying factor to messages that convey "just start doing it" and almost any other self-help type message out there. Get into a routine, figure out what works, goto 10.<p>It's not a huge secret and it's one of those simple things that people often overlook.<p>Personally, I like Jerry Seinfeld's method of productivity. Define tasks that contribute to a goal and every day that you contribute, physically mark it off on a calendar.<p><a href="http://robisit.com/9r" rel="nofollow">http://robisit.com/9r</a>

I love the drawing on the right side of the brain reference, one of my favorite books. <a href="http://www.drawright.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.drawright.com/</a>

I think this is great advice. Part of perseverance is not letting anyone else tell you what you can not do but even more important is not telling yourself what you cannot do.

This is why many famous creatives are or were heavy alcohol or drug users (it's almost a running joke about journalists). These vices help shut out the critical voices for some people, for a while at least.

What I really liked: "Start with what you already know". I think this is very smart

You have to start if you want to accomplish anything. Never mind you don't have the skill, or it would take too long to come up with something meaningful...<p>Just do it!

&#62; <i>Don’t worry about what you need to know in order to finish a project, you already have everything you need to start.</i><p>Oh. Do worry. Worry much. Because the time you spend down a road that leads nowhere may not be worth what you learn on the way there.

There seem to be two models to success in a field: learn as a youth or learn once you are an adult. These two approaches are equally valid from what I have seen.