The importance of getting started in anything boils down to this: Until you start, you only have other people's knowledge to work with. You're always going to

The importance of getting started in anything boils down to this: Until you start, you only have other people's knowledge to work with. You're always going to value firsthand information more than what you can read in a book, or on HN, or whatever. Until you start, your skills won't improve because there's nothing to sharpen them. Of course, you should look before you leap. You don't want to "just start" by quitting your job with only two weeks of living expenses saved and nothing more than a "Learn Ruby!" book tucked under your arm. But you can decide that, tonight, and every night, you're going to put at least 60 minutes into making progress on whatever you want to do, whether it's learning programming, starting your project, planning your business or anything in between.