The power of small steps

If you have set a goal but are having challenges making progress towards it, chances are you will give up and retreat to your comfort zone. Due to the volume of projects I am currently handling, including running a business, and writing for a number of publications while catching up on study and reading, I have fallen behind in writing regularly on this blog and making progress on my book which is due out the latest second quarter of this year. For quite a while, I have been making excuses and telling myself – one of these days, I will get back on track

I got a huge kick in the butt today as I read “Why Ask Why” by John Mason. I really had a laugh at my expense and resolved to do something about all my stalled goals. I had to relearn the power of small steps. Here are some that really got me going:

“We are all fugitives, and the things we didn’t do yesterday are the bloodhounds” – Prism. In Nigerian English, it means what is pursuing us is stuff we left undone yesterday.

If you want to make an easy job seem difficult, just keep putting off doing it.

A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred and we must come back and settle the account at last.

Don’t allow idleness to deceive you; for while you give him today, he steals your tomorrow from you – H Crowquill

One day, today is worth two tomorrows – Ben Franklin

If you feel stuck, take small steps to get running again.

Your future comes one hour at a time. You are in effect throwing your future away by wasting hours today (ouch!)

Nobody makes the greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little – Edmund Burke

Inches make champions – Vince Lombardi

If you wait too long, the future is gone before you get there.

Success comes to the man who does today what others were thinking of doing tomorrow.

The lazier a man is, the more he is going to do tomorrow.

The hardest work to do is that which should have been done yesterday.

Enough said. Little things matter. We let things slide when we ignore the power of small steps. A lot of my projects have stalled because I am waiting to take a significant step forward. A lot of people hold back from saving and investing because of low returns. While such a stance may make sense today, it looks foolish when you look up 5 years down the road. Small steps make a huge difference over time. I have paid my dues procrastinating. I am taking small steps toward achieving all my goals this year. The future does not swoop down on us at a go. It comes in small increments, seconds, minutes, hours, and days. A lifetime is made up of these seemingly small steps.