The cursor blinks at me as stare at the blank page.

What should I write about? What direction should I take this blog in? This chapter, this narrative? Where should I begin? It’s a question I’ve asked myself on various occasions and I’m sure you have too.

I used to be a chronic procrastinator. I would lie to myself and say things like “I work better under pressure,” or “I have time” but the reality was this – I honestly just didn’t know how to start.

There’s something terrifying and exhilarating about the start of anything new.  When you start something, you have no foresight; you don’t know how it’s going to end. That’s frightening. The fear of what could go wrong is what prevents so many of us from attempting to go for the dreams in our lives. But along with the fear is an element of excitement. The idea that something that you conjured up in your mind could manifest itself into something of value; a masterpiece in its own right. For those that strive to create an iconic existence, there’s one thought that keeps you up at night; the thought of what COULD Be.

Thomas Edison slept three hours a day. Leonardo da Vinci only two. Why? Is it because they had insomnia or because they were trying to conquer the never-ending Candy Crush levels

I believe the lack of sleep came from their true passion of creating something new. They loved the fresh idea, the blank canvas, the untouched stone that would be made a master sculpture – they loved to create. In the course of his life Thomas Edison held over 2,300 patents. Da Vinci sketched out the blueprint designs for helicopters and parachute over 400 years before they could actually become a reality.

How were these men able to do accomplish so many things? They embraced the love of being at square one – starting from zero. In today’s society we associate being “back at square one,” as symptomatic of a failure.

But what if you changed your perspective? What if you realized the greatest ideas begin at the drawing board? It’s a clean slate, a fresh start, a chance to get it right. Hindsight is 20/20 but we can use that hindsight to create a better future.

J.K. Rowling turned her blank page into a billion dollars with Harry Potter. Sylvester Stallone turned his blank page into an iconic movie script.

Colonel Harland David Sanders turned used his blank page to jot down the secret recipe for what would become Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Each of us has a story. We all have a Harry Potter or Mona Lisa inside of us. But the only way we can ever began to realize the possibilities of our dreams and bring them to fruition is simply to embrace the fact that we have to start… right now.

What masterpiece are you going to paint on the blank canvas of your life?