What could change if you took that first step?
Posted on December 01, 2017 by Karen Hennessy-Coles, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
This year has taught me that taking that first step can lead to great things.......
I remember not too long ago when I wrote my first blog post. Having written it, re-read it, sent it to a few people to review then re-read and amended it, I finally put it out there. It took about a month and as I pressed the send button, I held my breath!
Think I was expecting someone to knock on my door shouting ‘Karen Hennessy-Coles who you think you are to put out this blog post. Remove it immediately or I’ll huff and puff and blow your house down!‘
Of course this never happened.
In fact very little happened. Externally anyway. But internally I felt amazing, I’d done it. It may not have shaken THE world but it shook MY world. I had a bigger goal, I wanted to serve people to make their work lives amazing and this was a step towards it. A very small step, but never the less a step.
Pressing send on that blog post proved that I could do it. I learnt that I did have a message and a voice, that I actually had a lot of experience and advise to give. This is my truth and if people resonate with me and find my message and advise useful in improving their working life, then I want to get it out there.
Does this sound familiar? Is there something that you would love to do in your working life, but you put blockers in your way so you don’t do it? This maybe talking to your boss about your development, gaining a promotion, changing career, taking some time out, starting your own business………..
So what is the magic solution, how can you get moving!?
Only you really know the answer to that.
However, it’s good to do a risk analysis, if you take this first step ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ If you are being honest, real and genuine,the worst that’s likely to happen is that you will have a great learning experience. If you think the worst that could happen is not worth the risk then think of another step and run the same test. There is always more than one way!
Here are some thoughts and tips on how to make that first step:
What is it you really want? It could be anything, but it has to be what YOU really want. You maybe very clear on what you want or it maybe that you have no idea. If the latter is the case then it maybe that what you really want is to ‘get clear on what you really want!’
Brain storm everything you could do to get you to where you want to be. Remember that you don’t have to do anything. But consider everything, get it written down, everything, including the ludicrous, the crazy and the bonkers.
What’s the first step? From your brain storm what is the one step that could take you closer to your goal? It maybe something tiny, making a phone call, finding out some information, speaking to a friend. If it is really small then maybe commit to doing 2 or 3 actions to get you really moving.
But don’t overwhelm yourself. Committing and doing ‘one action’ is better than committing to 3 and doing none!
Put a date on it. Once you’ve decided on what you’re going to do, but a date on it. When can you do it and what could get in the way.
Experiment! Think of it as an experiment, do it and see what works and what doesn’t. If it doesn’t try something different. Go back to your list and see what else you thought about doing.
Give yourself time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither were most dreams and ambitions. Give yourself a realistic timeline and don’t beat yourself up if you don’t meet that so long as you are moving in the right direction.
Congratulate yourself once you’ve completed your actions – woo hoo! What’s next………
