Many ways lead to Rome. I have always believed this saying as being something positive. You can go your own way and still arrive at the same goal; if the one route does not suit, you can choose another route, etc. In a conversation with a customer last week, the dark side of this saying reared itself: "when there are so many ways, which one should I take"? She simply could not decide which route was the best and because of that could not even get going. She was so focused on finding the best and fastest way before she got going that she never was able to take the fist step. The more we spoke about it, the more it became clear to her that in the past she would start something only to return to the starting point when things did not go as she had imagined.

 "Returning to the start" is not necessarily the right direction when you want to move forward. So, how do we handle a situation where we don't not know which is the right way? First, it is always good to have a specific goal in mind. When the first rocket flew to the moon, nobody knew the exact flight path, however the target was very clear and along the way there were various navigation points which helped to target the moon more exactly. This strategy also works with our goals.
When we know where we want to go, for example becoming market leader with a product, creating a dream team from individual personalities, or getting out of debt and having positive numbers again, then we can define a specific goal. Next we need to determine the navigation points. These could be inner values such as thriftiness, honesty, open communication, or feedback from employees, customers or superiors, which can help to navigate the course. We should also not underplay our intuition which often provides clear signals - if only we would become aware of them. So, if we have clear goals and a few navigation points, we can start the journey without knowing the exact way.

If there are many roads to choose from, take the one that seems the best in that moment. Should we arrive at a point which does not seem to make sense, then we navigate from anew and, instead of returning to the starting point to start again, we simply change the direction a little and continue to move forward.
So long as you keep to this tenant in mind and keep moving, you will surely arrive at your destination! Where is it, that you are not staring a journey? What do you procrastinate with? This is the best moment to start! Get started!

Quotes

The first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.

Ben Stein  

A weak man has doubts before a decision, a strong man has them afterwards.

Karl Kraus 

Every day you may make progress. Every step may be fruitful. Yet there will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path. You know you will never get to the end of the journey. But this, so far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb.

Sir Winston Churchill

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Lao-tzu

The longest part of the journey is said to be the passing of the gate.

Marcus Terentius Varro