I have three legitimate projects on my plate that all have the potential to be profitable, challenging, interesting, and fun. I haven't started any of them because, frankly, I'm scared to death to get started.

There are always excuses that prevent you from getting started. One of my projects requires nothing more than me having a quick, relatively painless medical examination. But it includes a shot, and I hate needles. Seriously. That's the only thing standing in my way - a shot. But I don't like getting shots, and I've used this as an excuse to stop me from diving into something big and great.

I have plans to go back to school, and I've let a small amount of complexity and bureaucracy stand in the way and hamper those plans. It wouldn't be terribly difficult to navigate, but it's enough of a barrier that I've been sitting on my heels and not pursuing the opportunity further.

For some reason, the idea of starting any of these projects just terrifies me. I let small obstacles and petty distractions keep me from diving in to accomplish my goals. What's amazing is that once I get started on something, I know I'll be hooked. I won't have any problem keeping it going. But I can't get out of my own way to allow something to happen.

Even as I sit here writing this blog, I find that I'm talking myself out of a resolution. "I'll start Monday," I tell myself. But there's the storm that's coming, and the cold snap after that, which allow me to rationalize why I can't start right away. I'd have to take my son out of the house and to the sitter's, which is silly to do in such cold weather. Maybe I'll start Wednesday, or Friday. Or next week.

These are all reasonable objections. But I'm reminded of a quote: "An excuse is never hard to come up with when you've decided you can't do something."

I'm going to overcome my own objections. I'm going to figure out a way to do the things that scare me. What scares you?