#001 How to start?

And NO, habits is not the answer.

After four years of writing a weekly newsletter, 253 issues of my Daily Heartbeat, and endless days sitting in front of the screen trying to write, post, or create something new, "how to start" is still a challenge.

And it's rarely a problem of not knowing what to say or not having ideas, but a resistance to putting something out there that feels safe. Our fight or flight response is still active as if we were living in caves. So, how do you go up against built-in programming?

The answer requires some imagination.

Imagine there were two tracks. One I'm going to call the mind track, and another the real track.

~ On the mind track, you need control; thus, habits, systems, and anything that provides security. (Most got this one down)

~ On the real track, you have no control. Uncertain territory filled with ambiguity. You can observe it, but you cannot change it; yet it’s where everything happens, including starting.

You cannot change the built-in programming, but you don’t need to dismiss the real track either. In holding both truths, you are no longer hostage to either.

Let’s play the dance between both tracks…

Start with a number. Like this #001.

When engaging with uncertainty, the first thing the mind seeks is certainty. And while the ambiguity is the predicament, it can be contained rather than dismissed. A number satisfies one track without requiring the other to resolve first.

It signals:

1. A starting point, even if you don’t know where to start.

2. Continuity, even when you have no clue what the steps are.

3. A pull for the next number that’s hard to explain but undeniable.

Why does it work?

Because numbering lets you operate on both tracks simultaneously, but only if you recognize it. That might sound like a small shift, but it is a key one.

Mind track gets: Constraint through commitment. A schema. Structure that bypasses "the right first step" because you're not claiming rightness—just sequence. The certainty it craves.

Real track stays: Messy. Uncertain. Free to emerge. You're not forcing it to crystallize before it's ready. Let it!

You’re not resolving the ambiguity — you’re containing it.

Most people make the mistake of waiting for the real track to become clear before engaging the mind track. They treat ambiguity as a blocker to everything, when it's only blocking one track.

The absurd part is that the ambiguity is necessary. It signals you are still on the real track. If you lose it, you are operating in the spiraling mind and will never start.

Because what we usually dismiss is that we work in a one-dimensional world, but the reality is that we operate in a multi-dimensional space. As absurd as it might sound:

In one dimension, you can be completely clueless. In another, you can be absolutely certain. And neither negates the other, nor is a substitute.

You can move forward with absolute confidence while being absolutely confused. Both states are real. Both are happening simultaneously. And frankly, you know people who represent this, and you smirk at their ability to pull it off every time you see it.

So stop trying to optimize a single track. Stop waiting for all the ambiguity to resolve before you act. Leverage the dimensions you actually live in—the certain and the uncertain.

All of that sounds great, and yet something is missing.

You understand the two tracks. You have your numbering system. The intellectual prison doors are loosening. And yet you're still not moving.

What actually enables you to dance between both tracks?

This is the hardest part to accept because it requires something outside of you. The aliveness born from connection.

In other words, you need help. Three bridges between the tracks:

1. AI, your content generator on steroids.

This is the most passive and artificial, but for some, it is enough. Don’t seek it for answers but for discovery. The mind track loves processing. Give it a recorded meeting or an idea, and ask it to extrapolate and help you understand it; from that, learn. In learning, you create a stronger connection to what you seek, thus helping your mind track make sense of what’s emerging on the real track, creating momentum between them.

2. Voices through podcasts and books.

Listen to others share their lived experiences to inspire reflection and, in turn, create space for new thinking. Don’t look for answers but inspiration. These provide the mind track with patterns to recognize, while the real track mirrors and reflects. The connection happens in the resonance.

3. Reach out to People.

Ask for help publicly, privately, or even paid support from coaches or experts. This is the most direct bridge. Another human being creates aliveness that exists on the real track but energizes action on the mind track. Within that space, ingenuity flourishes.

The Dance in Action

Do all three— give the mind track its system containing the ambiguity rather than dismissing it, embrace the absurdity of moving while confused honoring the real track's uncertainty, tap into aliveness through connection—and before you know it, you will look back and see that somewhere around #043, you notice you’ve been creating value for weeks, and people are asking how to pay you.

That’s when you discover: You already started a business. And “how to start” disappeared in the flow of the dance.

The mind track is still seeking control.
The real track is still uncertain.
But now you're dancing between them.

That's The Founders Truth: Ambiguity, Absurdity, Aliveness.

And you can experience it today. So what’s #001?

Have a great Sunday,
Carlo Mahfouz

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P.S. This is #001 of a reboot — my 5th attempt at keeping this weekly newsletter alive. If this resonated, I'd love to hear what your #001 is. Just hit reply.

P.P.S. Beyond the self-made founder and the Power of an Ecosystem: I had a great conversation about this with Vjera Orbanic. Listen!​

P.P.P.S. Want my help in a 1:1 call? I’m on Intro, where people book my time for quick consulting calls. Let’s talk!