One of the most inspirational quotes I have come across is from Lao Tzu who says “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. Many times we feel exhausted and stand at the cusp of giving up, feeling a failure and we gaze not at what needs to be done right now but at all the things between us and that last step.
Imagine standing in the desert looking at all the hills you need to cross before you reach your destination, you will already be considering if you will make it before you have even started the journey. Said differently you are tired before you even start.
And when that moment comes to you, and it does, and it will, try to remember this wisdom and focus on what is the very next thing that needs to be done and decide if you can do that and only that. It will be much easier to feel you can done this. And once that is done, repeat, look at the next step that you need to do and decide if you are ready for that.
How can we turn this into something practical to learn from? How about you try this:
1. The moment you hear yourself say you can’t do that, or you start to feel overwhelmed, exhausted or beaten – lets stop a moment. Remember, this doesn’t mean you have to feel COMPLETELY like this – the key is when this starts to surface take note.
2. Notice what is maki :ng you feel / think this way.
3. Determine what is the end goal.
4. Ask yourself what is the next action that I need to take to move me towards that goal?
5. Assess are you able to start on this right now? Does it make you feel overwhelmed? If so, pause and break up the “action” into smaller actions.
6. Continue with this process of identifying a smaller action (hello step!) and assessing if you can do this, and keep on breaking it into smaller actions until you feel you can do that action.
May your steps be small and powerful 🙂