Have You Ever Watched a Toddler Learn to Walk?
As a parent or even if you’re just a concerned observing adult, watching a one-year old taking her first steps is alternatively hilarious and terrifying.
Hilarious because they look like tiny Frankensteins stomping and lurching across the floor, terrifying because they tend to fall down—hard—and not always on well-padded bottoms.
You may notice however that however many times most toddlers fall they don’t give up on walking. They may cry and fuss but give them an hour or so and they’re back at it.
We adults could learn a thing or two from the average toddler.
One thing I learned as the mom of a toddler was the wisdom of taking small steps to getting big things done.
Most Oasis members are entrepreneurs, and we’re all working on some pretty grand ideas. After all, if you’re hanging out with the Heart of Business, you’re doing so because you have a longing to make a difference.
Yet the desire to make a difference, wonderful as it is, can also feel quite stressful. All sorts of scary stuff comes up: Who am I to change the world? Everyone will see me screw up? I don’t have a PhD! And so on and so forth.
No surprise then that once the first blush of excitement passes, we’re suddenly coming up with all sorts of reasons for why we just can’t write that presentation or make that phone call.
This is where baby steps come in. A baby step is an action that is so small and seemingly insignificant that you’ll do it because it doesn’t arouse fear.
All the while, these steps are advancing your progress toward a goal.
For example: a task like “write presentation” has “find an excuse not to” written all over it. There’s a reason why a lot of presentations get planned the night before they are to be given.
So what are some baby steps we might do to get ourselves moving in the right direction? Here are some things I’ve done:
- Create and namd a folder on my hard-drive. For example, if I were working on a presentation for the local Chamber of Commerce, I’d name the folder “Chamber Presentation.”
- Open Microsoft Powerpoint and name a new presentation “Chamber Presentation” and saved it in the folder I just created.
That might be all I do that day. The next day I’ll do a few more baby steps. For example:
- I’ll open my Powerpoint document, create a new slide and write a few ideas on the slide.
- Then I’ll save my presentation.
After 2-3 days of baby steps I find something interesting happens: I’m getting more and more done each time I sit down to work on my project. I find I’m completing 1-2 slides each time and creating graphs. Before I know it my presentation is almost done.
Baby steps are not a be all and end all to getting intimidating projects done. You need to give yourself some time and space to get going. Baby steps tend to work best when the hardest part of your project is getting started. On the other hand, in my experience, the projects most worth doing seem to be the ones that are hardest to start.
If you have a worthy project that you just keep putting off, tell us about it in the Tent, and let’s see if we can come up with some Baby Steps to get you going.
See you in the Tent,
Judy
Article: The Two Costs of Being Heart-Centered In Business
Would you give up your heart-centered business sense to avoid the costs? What are the costs of doing heart-centered business you ask? . . . Please read this article and then come to the Tent to discuss.
Article: The Two Real Reasons to Offer a Conditional Guarantee
Conditional, unconditional? There really isn’t much to lose in offering a guarantee, really. It can be so comforting, though, to customers or clients wanting what they buy to be all they hope it to be. Please read this article and then come to the Tent to discuss.
Article: Why Going After Rich Clients Doesn’t Mean You’ll Make Money
Heard of “Lottery Syndrome”? Well, fishing for wealthy clients could be a sign. Please read this article and then come to the Tent to discuss.
Tutorial/FAQ
We are in the process of creating the Tutorial/FAQ section, so please ask your questions about how this new-fangled thing works here. Questions about this new Oasis and Tent?
Plus, there are a number of discussions already starting up in the Tent:
Weekdays or Weekends?
New Website- Still Gestating But Need Your Input, PLEASE!
Excuses, Excuses
The Journey Part 2 – BRING IT ON!!!!!!
You can see a list of all the most recent discussions here.
We have lots more planned coming up, see keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks. And, if you need something, give a holler! We’re here to help and make it easy for you.
Until next Friday, see you in The Tent.
