Do you have big ambitions that you feel are so hopelessly far from achievable that you don’t even have it in you to take a single step? Do you find yourself so stuck on where to start that you resign yourself to never getting there?
This post is a follow up to my Execution Epidemic vlog that seemed to strike a chord with many of you. The reason we are not as successful as we would like to be is because we are simply not doing what needs to be done to create that success.
The reason I call it an epidemic is that we have so much to do, so many demands, so much that we want to create, have and do, that instead of taking little steps toward our goals, we end up doing nothing in many key areas. By not executing on our hopes and dreams, we are dooming them to remain abstract wishes, and worse off, keep getting more of what we already have.
The reason we are not executing is because we lack confidence. It becomes an endless negative feedback loop as our lack of achievement destroys our confidence and our lack of confidence keeps us stuck on square one not taking any steps at all.
We break our promises to ourselves all the time, as if we are less important than anyone else in our lives, when in fact, quite the opposite is true.
It’s important to remember that success begets success. The more successful we are at one thing in our lives, the more successful we become at something else. It all comes down to the same confidence game that is holding us back.
When we succeed, our confidence grows. When our confidence grows, we have the strength to take more and more steps. So the key to success is to grow your confidence. Growing confidence means starting really small and celebrating small wins, even it’s just taking one small step per day.
Nothing builds confidence faster than keeping your word with yourself.
It’s like a success a ripple effect. And like that tiny pebble thrown into calm water, it doesn’t take much to trigger a confidence chain reaction. All it takes is one infinitesimally small step, one tiny success that you can use to take the next and the next until you get there. Our egos love to tell us that if we don’t leap off the edge and go all in, we are weak and less than. Media (movies) love us to believe that too.
So instead of setting yourself up for failure by picking these monumental projects that require infinite transformation and change in order to accomplish them, start small and use that confidence to create your own success ripple effect.
This is my challenge to you. Take one step that is so small it seems almost meaningless. You almost feel insulted and bach at it because of course, you are so much better than that ;). It can be as simple as taking 10 extra steps a day in order to achieve your fitness goal or putting $5 in a jar every month toward your retirement savings plan.
It may seem trivial, but simple, incremental steps taken over time are the best way to make big changes. It comes down to our belief in ourselves that we will do what we said we would do. The fact that others trust you to keep your word means very little if you don’t trust YOU. That builds confidence and motivation better than anything else, bar none.
Facing an insurmountable task is incredibly demotivating, but break it down into the tiniest steps, and it becomes doable and even a little exciting!
This is why confidence is the cornerstone of success. When you walk to the end of your block and back, when you make one more call every week, you can go to bed saying to yourself, “I did it!” Inside you know that you have what it takes to do it again. Taking those small success steps becomes a habit and soon, you are ready to take bigger and bigger steps, with more and more confidence.
Pick your one thing and set your mind to it this month. As an extra challenge, declare it on my blog!
Need a little extra support, call me to get started. Here’s to you finding your awesome!
