Tossly

Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
– Baz Luhrmann

Now as I review nostalgically, there is a consistent thread, or threads, that seem worth recycling. A means and a method that gives you more control of your results, because step by step, it gives you more control of your change.

Warren Buffet described it this way: “I don’t look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over.”

My friend Kelly Mange’s grandfather said it this way: “It’s a cinch by the inch”

Just imagine, when you need energy, when you need a direction, and when you need to get going, there is something you can do.

It is in your control, right now, and you can use it to move forward.

It’s something small that could help you get and stay motivated.

Am I recycling it for more than it’s worth?

For your consideration, the following list is about recognizing and using the power of small steps. They have been found to be the universal components of movement. I’m sure I’m painting them over, but the ideas have stood the test of time…

1. Small steps are the mechanism of personal change. They begin small, can be taken consistently, lead to big steps and change with perspective. They can move you to great success and they can bring you back from disaster. They’re small, they’re big and they’re small again. Starting my first business (Licorice Pizza) was a small idea, it got big, looking back it was just a small step. You keep growing.
2. Your self-talk, the continual inner dialogue, is where the steps begin. You are being directed by these steps right now. You can choose what you listen to and you can make efforts to change it. Do I like this? Does it ring true for me? Do I want to keep reading? You guide your movement with your inner dialogue of thinking and feeling.
3. Small steps are a tool. You may not have thought of them this way. Perhaps you haven’t consciously used them, but when you want to build or repair, they’re available. Like taking a wrench out of a tool box. You don’t need it until the faucet is leaking, or you want to replace it, then you’re really glad you have it.
4. Awareness of steps is the first step. Life is busy. There are literally mouths to feed, work to be done and roles, relationships and responsibilities that fill your time and agenda. Small steps are not that – they are how you do those things. Whether you’re aware of them or not, you’re taking steps.
5. Acknowledging the possibility of consciously using steps is the next step. If you just let your steps take any path they choose, they will move you. They work in a vacuum as well as with a map. If you see and direct them, they can take you where you want to go. Acknowledging that puts the tool in your hand.
6. Small steps are not sexy. They’re not motivational speeches, lists of tips, inspirations, great books, Ah-ha moments or any of those other wonderful things. Those things are fuel in your tank. Small steps release them in the direction of your choice. You can make them as small or as big as you like. (Maybe that’s kind of sexy…)
7. Small steps lead to accomplishments in months and years, rather than days and weeks. Steps can move fast, but thoughts of overnight success and big promises may discourage you. That’s more marketing than reality. Progress takes time. If you look back at months or years and nothing has changed, maybe it’s time to take small steps.
8. Keep you mind open to new steps. Change will also come from things you weren’t expecting. Challenges can come from where you least expect them and serendipities, connections and opportunities are rarely gift wrapped.
9. Steps are guided by a cross section of all you have learned, some you don’t even remember. Small steps make them unite and come forward. This combination of small steps, raising themselves to awareness, is called intuition.
10. Small steps don’t replace goals, they support them. Goals are where you think big, medium or small with your steps. Whatever is right for you. Point your steps in the direction you want to go, and the next step will start getting you there.
11. Small steps make up the whole journey, at beginnings, middles and ends. They’re at bottoms, climbs and tops. The steps may look different, but they’re all the same. Their possibilities and challenges are yours to shape. Don’t worry about them, listen for them. Listen for their different tones, and they’ll help move you forward.
12. Small steps go up and down. There is a back and forth to progress. One step forward, two steps back, three steps forward one step back. Sometimes it goes one way for a period and then reverses. Knowing that helps you prepare and muster energy in times of need and opportunity.  There is a long term perspective of this in an old Hollywood saying, “be nice to the people you pass on the way up, because you’ll see them again on the way down.” This occurs in all areas of life and knowing it helps you take your steps.
13. Taking small steps takes small discipline, practice and repetition. Until the steps become second nature. Like walking and eating become second nature – so will taking small steps. Capturing the steps you want and keeping them visible for repetition is also a way to practice discipline.
14. Take the next step, even when you don’t feel like it. Though small steps are meant to be accomplishable, sometimes they’re so difficult. In the rush of living, they are hard to remember. They’re small! Knowing that they may get dismissed or forgotten, somehow make it easier to remember them.
15. Chance and luck come as small steps. They’ve come to my life and they’ve come to yours.  Small seeds can blow across your path and lead to growth. Keep your eyes and mind open to whatever comes your way. And remember, great successes can begin as problems.
16. Appreciate the moment and yield of each step. Moment-um. The benefits of living come on the journey, in the moments of living. Small steps allow you to appreciate each one. The moment is where small steps happen and is yours to take advantage of.
17. Start small, think big, step up is one of the formulas of small steps. Do something you love, imagine how it could be more, take more steps. Like walking and eating become second nature with small discipline + practice + repetition, so will taking small steps.
18. Most small steps are routine. They don’t take a lot of attention. Things you do over and over again, like brushing your teeth and eating, to being of service and enjoying family. Some routines are a little nastier, like bad habits and repetition of things you don’t like. Beware if they’ve become second nature.
19. When you want to do something differently you engage your creative steps. Steps are creative, even little ones, when you do something new or challenging. Seeing that, that you can do something new or in a new way, is a step that has big payoffs.
20. Small steps are the most personal things in your life. They are based on your unique personality, nature and nurturing. The adventure and wisdom of others may inspire them, and practicing in other people’s steps is a way to learn. But your steps will be unique, and taking your own steps is the way to grow.
21. Successful steps are best celebrated. Feel them. See them. Taste them.  Don’t leave even the littlest successes hanging. Recognize them with a small smile, a personal acknowledgment, or a nod to anyone who has helped you.
22. Failed steps are best celebrated. Mistakes are part of the journey. Every path is not clear, and every action is not correct. Screw ups and failures best serve by the lessons they teach. For the opportunities they can present to do them better next time. Expectations of perfection of excellence are just that. The reality that even failed steps are good steps, will give you new ways of moving forward.
23. Steps in the moment, can respond to unhealthy urges with pauses. Postponing and putting off … the extra portion, the cigarette, the meanness, can serve you well. You can change your life forever, and you can use your steps to do it for a few moments. And then do it again.
24. Steps in the moment, can respond to healthy urges with action. Capture these moments and take steps to bring them into your life. Then do it again.
25. Steps in the moment, can respond to worry with a reversal step. Worrying about failing, what others will think, and even the possibilities of success can take you off course.  The small step of reversing such thoughts too thoughts of happiness can reverse slides and add back energy to the journey. If you think about how worried you are, think for a moment how happy you are. Smile. Then do it again. Imagined truths have a funny way of becoming real truths.
26. Small steps are helpful in all parts of your life. Success is too often linked to a few; like money, relationships and appearance. But small steps can be taken in many areas including, financial, thinking, emotional, physical, spiritual, rest, family and friends, adventure, home, and being of service. And they each support each other.
27. When in doubt, try to pick small steps that will move towards health and away from illness. Your intuition will lead the way. I guess it’s obvious to move towards health, but it seemed worth repeating.

Well there, I’ve fished up, wiped off and recycled advice on small steps. Take what you will and leave the rest.

Looking at and listing ways to use small steps has many perspectives. Sharing these took longer than I expected, but if you’re still around, thank you for letting me share.

What other perspectives of small steps would you add to the list? How have you seen the small steps in your life?

There are a lot of ways to move forward. Find them and use them – one step at a time.

And have fun while you’re at it,

Jim

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Tags: areas of movement, life skills, small steps

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 at 11:49 pm and is filed under How You Affect Change, The Logic of Small Steps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.