Give it your best shot: start somewhere

One oughtn’t rush into things. But the opposite is equally true; you don’t want to prevaricate forever. Procrastination gets you nowhere just as quickly.

We'll stay at the start unless we make a start. 

By starting you gain information. You learn whether your actions get you closer to or further from your goal. Useful information.

If it’s ‘further’ then you can do an about face. If you are neither getting closer nor moving away, then a 90-degree turn is in order. If you are getting closer, then you veer a few degrees one way, then another, to see if you can speed that process up.

Taking action is therefore the key.

As far as learning a language goes, decide upon something to do according to your best guess. Your guess is likely to be a good one, since you know yourself better than could any teacher. 

Your knowledge of yourself—your likes, dislikes, preferences, learning style, habits, motivators, off-buttons, knowing what you already know, what you need to know, what you’d like to know, your goal, your levels of skill in various areas, your history . . .

There’s no fool-proof formula into which you can plug all those factors. You can only operate according to your gut feeling. Use trial and error. There’s an element of ‘muddling through’ which can’t be avoided. We must just accept that this is so, and give it a go.

We all start somewhere . . . unless we don’t.