I’m the kind of person who has always loved finding out about the world around me, and then sharing insights and what I have learned with other people. One aspect of this particular way I am wired has developed into a professional mentoring practice, where I support others in their personal growth journey, be that in business or in achieving other goals in life.
For a while now, I’ve been drawn to the idea of writing some of these insights down and sharing them more widely, as a way of seeking to impact positively more people than can be done through 1-1 mentoring conversations.
This year I set myself the goal to start writing. In my head I have several books I’d like to write about a wide range of different topics. But… I’ve hit “writer’s block” before I’ve even started. I am reminded of one of the power tips to create a new habit. Which is this. Ask yourself: “what is the smallest simple step I can take now towards my new goal?”. For instance if you want to start going to the gym, then this might mean getting your gym kit ready to go. Or you might want to start journaling, so get yourself a nice journal, and think about where and when in your pattern of life you will make space for journaling. The next step after that is to write one line in your journal, and take it from there. You will be amazed how taking these very small steps gets you on the road of progress.
For me recently, having moved house in the last year, I wanted to re-start swimming once a week. So applying this power tip, the first step was finding out online where my nearest swimming pool was. The second step was getting a (free) membership card and downloading their app, so that I could easily book a session. The third step was booking a slot and getting my swimwear ready, and so on…
So often we set ourselves a big goal that is too far removed from where we are today. The risk is that on day 3 or week 3, when we can’t live up to that new goal (yet), then we faulter and risk giving up, because the goal is unobtainable. Much better then to think about (and enjoy) the process, and the steps you will need to take to begin to create a habit that will help you towards some ultimate goal. A topic for another day perhaps, is that many people find over time that the process is more important than the goal itself. It’s good to have a target of course, but it’s also true that we make, and can celebrate, progress by taking a number of smaller steps, that over time add up to something much bigger.
So back to my writer’s block. I thought about this power tip and how to apply it to writing. What is the smallest step I can take, and then take that. In this case the smallest step was remembering my login credentials for the backend of this website (I had not logged in for much more than a year), and setting up a new blank blog post in draft format. Well I did that yesterday, and today this text you are reading is my first blog post in 7 years ! (This is because when I gained new work and got busy I too easily put my “pen down” !)
I titled this blog post “The power of starting…NOW” . As the adage goes “there is no time like the present”. I would add to that – start NOW directionally towards your goal with the smallest baby step, and you may well find that you have gained initial momentum to build upon that.
So I don’t know if this will be the only blog post I write for the next seven years, as blogging is not the end goal – rather I needed to take a first step on a bigger journey, which was to write something (I hope) useful down and get it out there.
Peter
Photo by Melike B: https://www.pexels.com/photo/neon-light-signage-hanging-on-glass-wall-9226854/
Vision Formers 