8 Tips on the Power of Small Steps and Taking Action
This article outlines 8 tips on the power of small steps and taking action to achieve your goals, plans or dreams in life.
Taking small steps has power, the steps add up over time and each step taken propels you closer to your goal.
You can quickly skim all the 8 tips on the table of contents below and then click on any tip to read further details. Please enjoy reading. Thank you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Taking action is the most important step towards success
- Taking the first step
- Start where you are
- Make regular small steps
- Start small
- Don’t fear restarting
- The learning opportunities when starting small
- Slow and steady wins the race
1. Taking action is the most important step towards success
If you are pregnant with an idea, dream or a vision it is ok to let the idea grow, simmer and ferment in your mind for a reasonable period of time.
Similar to how a baby needs to grow in the womb but then it reaches a point when it is time to deliver the baby a.k.a. ‘the idea’ and give it a chance to grow and survive out in the real world.
Just like a caring mother who takes care of a newborn baby until it becomes an adult, you will likewise nurture and fend for your newly born idea, feed it every day, provide loving nourishment and support one day at a time.
There will be joyful moments, teething problems, hiccups, sickness and healing along the way but this is part of the process.
When your idea, dream or vision grows up and becomes a toddler then a teenager and then an adult you will look back with pride and say to yourself “Wow! I did it.”
Taking action is the most important step towards success.
The simple truth is that dreams, visions and goals are achieved and accomplished only through action.
None of the theories and plans will work if you don’t take any action.
Dream it, think it, plan it, then do it.
Execution is the secret ingredient, many people can have the same idea but what sets them apart is how they execute it.
2. Taking the first step
Taking the first step is usually the hardest part of the journey.
Often times someone is not sure about the best direction to take to implement their dreams and therefore the temptation is to wait until the entire road map is available or the timing is perfect in order to begin.
So it becomes a waiting game, waiting until all the pieces of the puzzle are available and make sense, waiting for the right conditions and circumstances, waiting and breeding procrastination upon procrastination – a procrastination infestation, over analyzing and saying that I will do it one day.
By overthinking the starting point you might end up not taking any action.
Doubt, fear, worry and uncertainty also stops people from taking action.
Sometimes we think that we have to take big steps to start out and this becomes a paralyzing thought.
But how can you take action?
Taking the first step is scary but it must be done.
To achieve progress you have to take action.
Think about all the positive outcomes and possibilities that you want. This should encourage you to take the first step.
Remember that many other people have been at the very same starting point that you are in and they took the plunge and dove into action.
3. Start where you are
Start at the level where you are then grow and increase your skill level and output over time. Do something. Inaction is a killer of big dreams.
The sad reality is that if you don’t take action to pursue your dreams nobody will do it for you.
Action implements ideas. Simply start.
Even a car won’t move until you take action – either turn on the ignition, push the start button or tell the car to start (in some newer models). The point being some action had to be taken.
Act on your ideas to turn them into reality.
Action strengthens you. It grows you, makes you smarter, you learn more, you self-correct as you move along, you improve and become better.
Action increases your confidence and leads to more action.
Taking action gives birth to momentum.
The higher a plane flies the less power it uses and is able to fly stable for a long time to get to its destination faster.
By taking action you get things done.
However, it won’t be all smooth sailing, you will stumble and make missteps along the way but firmly picture the end result on your mind as you keep pushing forward and making focused progress towards your success.
4. Make regular small steps
Are you feeling overwhelmed about starting? Don’t worry many people do.
They feel fearful, confused, paralyzed, overwhelmed, worried, anxious and apprehensive when it comes time to start.
There is agony and inertia that is experienced before attempting something risky that takes you out of your comfort zone.
The inertia could be likened to driving a car with the parking brake on; to move forward and further you would need to release the brake.
The agony is even more intense especially if you are doing something for the first time.
Many nerve wrecking thoughts fill up your mind including the perception that you have to take big leaps to make a significant difference in what you are attempting to do.
5. Start small
The truth however, is that you don’t have to start big to succeed.
There is great wisdom in starting small and growing big over time likewise there is great wisdom in starting your journey to success one step at a time.
The key to growth and progress is to do a bit more each new day than you did the previous day and make small improvements as you move along.
Little steps taken over time have the potential to make a difference. The small steps and actions add up over time incrementally.
No step is too small. Keep building on it. Dream big and start small is useful advice to remember.
6. Don’t fear restarting
Sometimes you will start and restart a number of times as you try to get the right footing.
Do not be discouraged by how many times you have to start to gain your balance, once you gain your balance take a few easy steps and then a few more.
You don’t have to do it all at once, this is a common misconception, you need to take one bite at a time.
To keep you focused on your journey towards success you need to have a captivating and exciting reason to keep moving forward every day.
This excitement should ignite your spark plugs and provide the power to chug along like a steam train.
A baby learns to walk by taking one step at a time; they stand up walk and fall down, then they rise up again walk fall down.
They keep repeating the process over again with great determination and eventually the baby walks on their own and they can throw up their little arms in ecstasy in celebration of the milestone they have accomplished.
Watching this process is truly inspirational.
7. The learning opportunities when starting small
One positive aspect of starting small is you discover what works and what doesn’t.
Perhaps you had assumptions that looked good in theory but when you applied them they did not work out as you had thought.
This affords you an opportunity to evolve and discover new ways of achieving your objectives.
Your plans and ideas could expand into ways and areas that you had not imagined before.
You could gain more insights about the goal you are pursuing and you will learn more about yourself. Your level of confidence will also increase as you persist by moving forward.
When starting small you can focus on every detail that needs your attention.
You can also experiment and test new ideas.
Starting small and taking small steps helps you to test the waters before diving in.
Think back about the time you were a kid and you were outside playing. Try to remember how it was when you wanted to jump up as high as you could.
When you want to jump high you simply start by jumping up a little, then jump a little more higher, then a bit more higher, over and over as momentum and sheer determination kicks in each subsequent jump becomes higher than the previous one until you are jumping as high as you can.
All this high jumping was made possible by the initial small jump that you did which was the foundational jump that you kept building upon.
The beauty of it all is that the more you succeed in jumping higher the happier and more motivated you become for reaching your goal and you instinctively set a higher goal which you jump towards.
8. Slow and steady wins the race
The main things to remember in starting small and taking baby steps are:
- Take small regular steps,
- Don’t try to grow too quickly,
- Make incremental changes and improvements over time,
- Don’t try to do too much at once,
- Don’t try to jump in one big leap,
- Work on one piece at a time improving and evolving as you go, and
- Don’t be afraid to start small.
Everything big that you see around you started small – a tree started from a seed, a building started from one brick – brick after brick, wood after wood and a house emerged.
Overnight stardom and success is rare. It takes time, heartaches and persistence to climb the ladder of success.
We have to put in the work to get the results we desire. Sometimes you can work for many years on your dreams before you see any results.
In addition, many good things go down first before they come up, a seed goes down before coming up, a tree’s roots go deep down for it to grow high, a building’s foundation goes down before the building goes up, and a baby crawls before it walks.
Similarly you go on probation when you start a new job before you fully learn and master the job requirements, learn the company and start producing at capacity.
You also write a draft of a piece of writing before you edit and polish it.
When starting the first step, take a leap of trust that things will work out and take the plunge. Don’t wait too long to take the plunge.
Be ready to work your way up. What you learn now helps you in the next step and the next.
Conclusion
Key Takeaways/Points to Remember
A. The Power of Small Steps
- Are you feeling overwhelmed about starting? Don’t worry many people do. They feel fearful, confused, paralyzed, overwhelmed, anxious and apprehensive when it comes time to start.
- There is great wisdom in starting small and growing big over time likewise there is great wisdom in starting your journey to success one step at a time.
- Little steps taken over time have the potential to make a difference. The small steps and actions add up over time. No step is too small. Keep building on it. Dream big and start small is useful advice to remember.
B. The Power of Taking Action
- Taking action is the most important step towards success. The simple truth is that dreams, visions and goals are achieved and accomplished only through action.
- Taking the first step is usually the hardest part of the journey. Start at the level where you are then grow and increase your skill level and output over time.
- Action increases your confidence and leads to more action. Taking action gives birth to momentum. Simply put, by taking action you get things done.
Additional Resources on the Power of Small Steps and Taking Action
A. The Power of Small Steps
- Make Big Strides with Small Steps
- Create Big Change With 8 Small Steps
- The Magic of Small Steps
- The Small Steps That Have a Big Impact on Achieving Goals
- The Power of Incremental Change Over Time
- The Power of Small Wins
- The Power of Little Changes
B. The Power of Taking Action
- 9 Tips for Taking Action on Your Goals
- The Power of Taking Small Actions Consistently
- The Power of taking Action
- 4 Reasons Taking Action Is Crucial In Achieving Success
- Five Powerful Reasons to Take Action Today
