Just Take the First Step
It’s almost Spring. What does that mean to you? I think it is a time of longer days, beautiful flowers, and I have a sense of renewal. I literally have a spring in my step! How about you? Have you been hunkered down for the past few months waiting for things to get better? I understand wanting to hunker down. But if you think things are going to change without doing anything you are in for a rude awakening. Let this be your wakeup call to do something! I believe that starting is usually the hardest part. It’s like when you sit down to a big, juicy steak or one of those amazing salads with so many great toppings. What do you do? You just take one bite. And then you eat one bite at a time. When you want to start something new, focus on doing just one thing.
It might feel difficult to start something new. And you may need to put in extra effort to find the time because you are stretched too thin. All it takes is 10 or 20 minutes a day just for you. When I started to work on the workshop I will be giving at the Women’s Wellness Weekend, I started by powering up my laptop and doing some research.
Every time you take a small step or accomplish a small goal, celebrate your progress! Did you manage to read a chapter of a book? Celebrate it. Completed an online course by scheduling some time for yourself? Acknowledge your organization and perseverance. Your celebration acts as a reminder of your capability and resilience, and fosters a positive mindset that moves you forward.
If you want to keep track of your progress, you can create a tracker or a checklist. That way you have a visual reminder, especially once you put some time into it and start to see those beautiful check marks. Or, if you did something that was hard and you did it anyway, do a happy dance! Crank up some music and start dancing to celebrate your determination!
As I worked consistently on my presentation and added more content, I found more sources to support my thesis, and I started to gain momentum. When I am done, I will have a multimedia presentation with music, videos, images, reflective exercises, and a whole lot of material to teach. Goal setting helps me stay focused, gives me confidence, and motivates me to do more.
The key is to break things down into manageable steps. It doesn’t dilute your accomplishments, it helps facilitate your progress just by taking a few minutes a day.
