Initiative means freedom to act, but it does not mean freedom to act in an offhand or casual manner.

Initiating is really and truly difficult, and that’s what leaders do. They see something others are ignoring and they jump on it. They cause the events that others have to react to. They make change.

It is not a question of starting. The start has been made. It's a question of what's to be done from now on.

Starting isn’t like that. Starting something is not an event; it’s a series of events. You decide to walk to Cleveland. So you take a first step in the right direction. That’s starting. You spend the rest of the day walking toward Cleveland, one step at a time, picking your feet up and putting them down. At the end of the day, twenty miles later, you stop at a hotel. And what happens the next morning? Either you quit the project or you start again, walking to Cleveland. In fact, every step is a new beginning. Sure, you’re closer than you were yesterday or last week, but you’re still...

"THE MAGIC OF MAKING A START Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would not otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man would have dreamed would come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now.

In short, the important thing is to get started. No matter how; then there will be time to ask yourself where you are going.

An initiation is a symbolic death and rebirth, a rite of passage that transforms each person who experiences it.

The world bestows its big prizes, both in money and in honors, for but one thing. And that is initiative. What is initiative? I'll tell you: it is doing the right thing without being told.

Today, not starting is far, far worse than being wrong. If you start, you've got a shot at evolving and adjusting to turn your wrong into a right. But if you don't start, you never get a chance.

Taking initiative pays off. It is hard to visualize someone as a leader if she is always waiting to be told what to do.

A little secret:

You don't need the right answer to start. You can start by asking a question. Simply asking, "How can I be a better friend?" or "How can I be a healthy person?" will call forth answers naturally.

In the beginning, just repeating the question is enough.

Initiation leads to the stream that, once entered, sweeps a man onward until it carries him to the feet of the Lord of the World, to the feet of his Father in Heaven, to the feet of the three-fold Logos... It leads through the Hall of Wisdom, and puts into a man's hands the key to all information, systemic and cosmic, in graduated sequence. It reveals the hidden mystery that lies at the heart of the solar system. It leads from one state of consciousness to another. As each state is entered the horizon enlarges, the vista extends, and the comprehension includes more and more, until the expansion reaches a point where the self embraces all selves, including all that is "moving and unmoving", as phrased by an ancient Scripture. p. 14

Where do you start? You start right HERE. When do you start? You start right NOW. You initiate action. You GO. Here is the reality: That idea isn’t going to execute itself. That book isn’t going to write itself. Those weights out in the gym — they aren’t going to move themselves. YOU HAVE TO DO IT.

It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.