I often get asked 'How do you do all the things that you do? How do you manage to do them all? How did you get to where you are now?'
Well, let me tell you a secret:
“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.” -- --John Pierpont Morgan
That is indeed the very first step. And it is the most important one.
So let's stay with it for a minute here and analyze what it really means.
Many people have realized that something needs to change, that something is not right. And they keep looking for the kind fairy to spin her wand and miraculously make it all right.
Well, let me tell you another secret:
There are no miracles. There are no fairies.
And even if there were, you would still be stuck at the first step.
Because:
YOU need to DECIDE that you are NOT going to STAY where you are.
Read that again.
So you, need to take an action to create movement. As simple as that.
Many people are stuck or unhappy and they know it. They moan about everything to everyone. But they don't do anything about the situation. They complain that it's too complicated, too difficult, too risky or that they just don't know where to start.
So let me tell you another secret:
Once you have decided that you don't want to stay where you are, all it takes is a small step.
You don't need to stop smoking by tomorrow (that would be very smart, but very hard).
You don't have to loose 20 pounds in a week (that wouldn't be very smart and probably very unhealthy).
You don't have to start your business by the end of next month (that would be possible but you would just feel overwhelm and experience no fun).
All you need to do is take a small step:
Tell someone you would like to stop smoking (tell them tomorrow). Or, buy some nicotine patches to see how they can help you reach your goal (buy some by the end of this week).
Take out some pictures of yourself when you liked the way you looked and stick them on the bathroom mirror (do that tomorrow). Make an appointment with your doctor in view of making a weight loss plan with him (do that by next week).
- Make a list of all the things that need to be done (by the end of the week). Then break each big step up into small steps and those again into smaller, doable steps (do that by the end of this month).
Start wherever you are and start small. -- Rita Baily
You are not changing the starting point (A) or the end result (B: quit smoking, loosing 20 pounds or starting a business), you are just breaking the path up into doable portions, baby steps, little A to B sub steps.
This will allow you to:
- experience completion along the way (and hey, you can celebrate the little successes!)
- remain motivated
- experience fun
- keep up momentum (once one step is finished, another one is already lined up)
It will also prevent you from:
- experiencing overwhelm
- giving up before you even really started
- being stressed and bitchy and no fun
And look, all these famous people can't be wrong?
When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. -- Confucious
The secret to living the life of your dreams is to start living the life of your dreams today, in every little way you possibly can. -- Mike Dooley
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
Henry Ford
Have a bias toward action – let’s see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.
Indira Gandhi
The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs...one step at a time.
Joe Girard
The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.
Lee Iacocca
Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao Tzu
We don't try to be 100% better, rather 1% better a hundred ways.
Ann Mitchell
He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Baby step by baby step, you have what you need right now to start moving in the direction of your happiest dreams.
Marta Davidovich Ockuly
It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.
Chinese Proverb
If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.
Nora Roberts
Whoever wants to reach a distant goal must take small steps.
Helmut Schmidt
All great things have small beginnings.
Peter Senge
The first step is to find out what you love – and don’t be practical about it. The second step is to start doing what you love immediately, in any small way possible.
Barbara Sher
When I face the desolate impossibility of writing 500 pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. One day’s work is all that I can permit myself to contemplate.
John Steinbeck
Every change starts in a small step.
Ron Stolero
The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.
Mark Twain
Read more...
What better and simpler way to get fresh ideas than to ask other people?
