“The distance is nothing; only the first step is difficult.”
Mrs. Marie du Deffand
“What is not started today will never be finished tomorrow.”
Johann Wolfgang by Goethe
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it takes to achieve it. Time will pass anyway.”
Count Nightingale
Perhaps the most common problem people have with personal development and making positive change is that it remains a daydream. That they become enthusiastic and inspired.
But when those positive emotions fade, nothing actually happens.
Life goes on as usual. Your health, finances or your relationship with yourself stays the same.
It’s very frustrating. I know.
I used to read about personal development in almost all major areas of life. But it probably took me months or years to get started making these positive changes.
Why?
It was awkward. Making the changes felt so big that it was easier to just keep dreaming about them as frustration built up inside.
So what can you do if you get stuck in daydreaming? The best solution I’ve found to make your dreams come true is to downsize.
Because big changes and enormous ambitions sound so inspiring and motivating. But they are also scary.
So the most important step to getting started and continuing, especially if you’re new to personal development, is to remove as much pressure and expectations as possible.
At least that’s what worked for me and still works best. And in this article I share how you can do that in two simple ways.
1. Just take a small step.
I’ve mentioned this many times. With good reason.
It’s one of the most effective ways to reduce the pressure and expectations you put on yourself and get out of stagnation or procrastination.
For example, taking just one small step and focusing on it is a great way to become productive at school or work.
But it can be used in almost any area of life. If you want to become:
- Be friendlier and improve your relationships then just take a small step by giving someone a sincere compliment.
- A better listener then have just one conversation today in which you do as much effort as possible to learn more about the person in front of you. And really be there as best you can and nowhere else in your mind.
- Someone with a less messy house Then first take 5 minutes to tidy up one shelf in your bookcase or a drawer of your desk.
If you want, you can take the same small action tomorrow and focus on it.
If you want to take a first step and get started on something, do it today. A day will never be that easy or at least a day several months or years in the future. Don’t make that mistake.
And if the first small step you think of still seems too big to take, think of an even smaller step. Be kind to yourself in this way and make the start as easy as possible for yourself.
2. Focus on just caring for today.
When you feel overwhelmed and tired and just want to quit or fall back into your old and more negative habits, sit down for a moment.
To breathe.
Then narrow your focus immensely. Don’t look ahead, because then you will see all the things you need to do to achieve your goal or create a new habit.
Instead, go smaller and focus on taking care of today.
Nothing anymore. Tomorrow will come on time. And then you will take care of that today.
I highly recommend keeping this narrow focus daily.
Of course, you may need to do some planning. Do this early in the week or day. Then narrow your focus again to make your work and life lighter and effortless.
If you focus on the small steps and on today, you will soon have covered a long distance.
