I believe this might be the most simplistic yet one of the most challenging places to be. When you don’t know what to do.
It is something I hear over and over and over again from coaches who want to build a business. They have passion and all that it takes … but they don’t know what to do.
For some reason, it seems that this one thought calls forth every fear imaginable.
- What if I never figure it out? (And I want this so much!)
- Why is this so hard? (I have accomplished so much in my life)
- Why do I have to do_______? (fill in the blank)
That inner critic yammers on…
- You’ll just waste time and money
- You’ll keep doing the same thing without getting anywhere
- Go ahead and give up.
Does this sound familiar to you?
This came on my radar this past week when I had a flurry of new year consultations. I kept hearing the phrase, “I don’t know what to do”, along with, “What should I do, Kat?”
The part that captured my attention happened after I had listened to each person describe where they were in the creation of their business … when I offered them my wisdom.
I outlined a course of action that has worked for hundreds of coaches, tailored to their situation and wrapped up with the highest level of expertise I possess. I then offered that what they needed to do (maybe what they needed to do most) was to take one step at a time.
Then I would ask them a coaching question.
“What is the next best step for you to take?”
This is where it got interesting. This one instruction seems to be the hardest one for folks to understand. One step at a time.
I had a coach once who really taught me the power of this question. Thank you, Mark!
I have to admit that, just like the folks last week, I had trouble understanding the importance of this one concept when my coach, Mark, first offered it to me.
Until it started to work for me. And it kept on working!
When you are passionate about something and REALLY want it to happen, it is tempting to want to do it all at once, thinking you can cut corners or skip over the hard stuff. You might think you can hire someone to do it for you. You might also think you can do it on your own if you just keep trying!
I don’t know about you but none of that has EVER worked for me no matter how much I wanted it to.
This is true no matter what you are attempting to create in your life.
Once you have a vision and feel compelled to move in a positive direction, then it’s time to take steps, and there will always be a first step. Some will be teeny tiny. Write a few words, make a phone call, send a text.
Others might be BIG. Ask someone to marry you, knock out the kitchen wall, start a podcast.
One more thing about taking steps that I learned again this year. You may recall that in my last blog I wrote about a failure of mine. W
What I learned from that failure is just how much I could learn and use that learning to do things differently the next time.
I took the step of sharing that failure with my coach. She guided me beautifully, thank you Lisa! With that guidance, I simply took the next best steps that felt right and good to me. I had the opportunity for a do-over last week, and the results were amazingly good!
All it took was for me to take one step at a time.
This year, as you begin to make your vision a reality, I encourage you to feel the passion, imagine it as possible and then take one step at a time, learning from the failures, and celebrating the successes along the way.
One very simple way to begin making step-by-step a habit is to use small index cards.
Get a whole pack of them and use pretty markers if you want to make it fun.
Write on each card the individual teeny tiny steps it will take to make something in your vision happen. Break down each aspect of your vision and make the steps as small as possible! Then think of it as a game where you get to put the cards in the order that makes sense and brings you peace.
Atomic Habits by James Clear is a great book if you are looking for guidance on how to make habits super simple to create.
