When first conceived, there are certain aspirations that are so big and daunting that they seem virtually impossible to achieve. But if it’s an idea that has awakened your passion and inspiration, you may have a hard time letting it go. Your thoughts may keep returning to it again and again, trying to come up with a plan to make it happen, but instead you only get more confused and frustrated because you simply can’t see a clear path to follow.
Although focusing on the big picture can be exciting, it’s also easy to fall into the trap of overthinking and make the journey much more complicated than it needs to be. Like the old saying goes, “Focus on the step in front of you, not the whole staircase.” Most likely, you have never climbed a flight of stairs by leaping from the bottom straight to the top. Instead, you took one step at a time until you reached the landing above.
Your big goals and dreams can be approached in exactly this way. Rather than trying to accomplish the entire goal in one big leap, focus on the smaller steps that will lead to the big outcome at the end. Even better, don’t focus too much on the steps that will happen later, because from where you stand now, you can’t possibly know every individual step that will lead to your desired outcome. If you try to plan every step in advance, there will be too many gaps and holes in your plan, which will breed doubt.
As difficult as it may be to believe, you do not need to know how the entire journey will play out. You only need to know which step makes the most sense to take right now. Once you take the step that is right in front of you, the next step will become clearer. With every additional step, more ideas, insights, resources, and courage will be drawn to you, so that you can keep moving forward consistently and naturally to the end result.
Needless to say, a certain measure of trust and patience will be needed as you go along. Trust the process. Reassure yourself with the knowledge that there have been countless people before you who have achieved great things, even goals that seemed impossible at first glance. If you were to ask them how they did it, they would probably tell you that they never could have predicted the twists and turns that they experienced along their journey to success. They simply trusted in their vision and focused on the next step that was right in front of them. They were led consistently to the next idea, the next resource, the next opportunity that they needed to keep advancing. And in between those successful steps, they failed. A lot. But they kept going.
Be willing to adopt this same attitude of trust and patience as you take that first step yourself. Even better, revel in each step and count it as a victory. Pat yourself on the back and say, “I’m proud of myself for doing what I can, with what I have available to me today. What can I do next?” Then wait for inspiration to strike. Before you know it, the next step will become visible, and you can move forward again. Repeat this same process for every step of your journey and before you know it, you will arrive at the culmination of your desire.
