One Small, Simple Right Action is All That's Needed To Reach Your BIG Audacious Goal

You're sitting there at your desk, resting your chin on one hand feeling disappointed because you haven't yet accomplished the things you want most. You're questioning your capabilities. You're drowning in self-pity and making all sorts of judgments about yourself. You realize the thoughts you're having aren't helping you so you decide to give yourself a pep talk. You look over at the vision board you created and remind yourself why you started this journey in the first place. You remember what achieving your goal will allow you to have, do and be. You decide to recommit and keep pressing on. You say to yourself "Okay, I'm committed to making this happen. Now, how do I do it?" Your brain starts running in overdrive coming up with all sorts of ideas. You organize all those thoughts into a process, a roadmap, a success journey sort of speak. First you'll do this, then you'll do that, and then once that is done you'll take another action, and then you'll do the next thing. The thinking and planning continues until you find yourself 5 or 6 steps into the process and realize there's a problem. There is an obstacle which makes you think "Ugh. How do I overcome this?" You attempt to come up with ideas of how you'll address the obstacle. You become frustrated and then decide to throw out the entire process, the roadmap of your success journey, because it won't work. You find yourself back in reality now holding your head with both hands. You are drowning in overwhelm because the distance of where you want to be is too far. The gap between where you are and your BIG audacious goal is too big. "What's the point of even attempting?" you wonder.

Here is how you overcome all those negative emotions so you can move yourself closer to the attainment of your BIG audacious goal. The process is incredibly simple, so put away any distractions that may be in front of you. I'd hate for you to miss it.

Get ready...

It is coming...

Here it is...

The solution to your overwhelm is...

TAKE ONE SMALL, SIMPLE RIGHT ACTION RIGHT NOW!

That's it! That is all you have to do to accomplish your BIG audacious goal. Take ONE small, simple right action. I know it is not "rocket science" but it just as powerful. ONE small, simple right action repeated over and over gets the job done. ONE small, simple right step repeated over and over again gets people from where they are to where they want to be. This is true in goal achievement just as much as it is traveling to your favorite vacation destination. You move towards it ONE step or ONE mile at a time! Each day simply focus on taking ONE small, simple right step that will move you one step closer to your BIG audacious goal.

To determine what that ONE small, simple right step is, ask yourself "What is ONE thing I can do today that will help me move closer to my BIG audacious goal?" Some of my clients ask this each morning; others use it as a way to transition from one activity to the next. They ask it each time they sit at their desk, just before they walk into a meeting, or pick up the phone. Ask this question, or some form of it, as it fits your personality and lifestyle. The power of asking this question is that suddenly your BIG audacious goal feels like "I attend the meeting." or "I write the contract." or "I make a phone call." or "I tell someone what I do." or "I make an offer." or "I share my idea." or “I drive to the gym.” This is something you can do, unlike eating an elephant in one bite or climbing Mount Everest in one leap. Best of all, this simple action is something you can easily repeat the next hour, day or opportunity... whatever fits your personality and lifestyle.

From my own experience of asking myself this question, you may think the answer that pops up is silly, or dumb, or won't be enough to make an impact. I want to encourage you to really trust that the first answer is the RIGHT answer. And, then I encourage you to take action on it NO MATTER WHAT, even if it doesn't seem sophisticated or big enough. Do this for three weeks and see what happens. The worst thing that could happen is you find yourself still in the same situation you're in now... wanting to be, do and have something different. Research has proved over and over again, people are more likely to do easy things instead of hard things so let's use that to our advantage. Take ONE small, simple right action TODAY and every day for the next three weeks. Let me know how things turn out for you.

If you're sitting there reading this blog post thinking that the small step you need to take in order to achieve your BIG audacious goal isn't BIG enough, that it doesn't excite you; I challenge you to test the perspective that "less is more." Here's why. Each evening as you reflect on the ONE thing you did to move yourself forward, each time you mark off that small milestone on your success journey roadmap, you'll feel a small bump of accomplishment and pride and perhaps even excitement. This will likely result in you continuing to take action and you'll continue to build that pride and accomplishment. Pretty soon,  you'll have a great amount of confidence and eventually those small daily goals will add up to your BIG audacious goal.

Additionally, thinking that those small steps or daily goals are not enough can actually cause you to bite off more than you can chew. This can cause self-doubt and keep you from taking action. After enough time of no action and no results, you'll be in a panic and the situation you'll find yourself in will create unnecessary urgency. You'll feel like you have to get it all done at once, today, perhaps in this exact moment. You'll wake up feeling anxious. Your thoughts will run rampant. Your heart will race so quickly that you'll be able to feel the pulse in your brain. Your breath will shorten and your hands will tremble. Your body will be exhausted from this natural response. You'll feel anything but excitement.

If you're not buying into the theory of ONE small, simple right action step, I challenge you to go ahead and take that ONE small, simple right action step night now. Then repeat it the next day and the next day and the next day and... you get the idea. If it is so boring and simple, then go do it. What I've seen is that the people who want to achieve a BIG audacious goal and then think that small simple steps are not enough, when they are challenged to go take ONE small, simple right step, often times they can't. They struggle. It is very interesting because when we're so focused on those BIG audacious goals, we bite off more than we can chew. And we know this because we can't do those simple steps consistently. And like I said before, it causes us to experience self-doubt. We think we don't have what it takes to make our dreams come true and so we simply give up. We stop taking the necessary action to be, do, and have all that we desire. We end up with overwhelm, exhaustion and disappointment.... ultimately, lots of unhappiness.

The metaphor I like to use when I'm working with my clients is that of a jigsaw puzzle. It is like having a puzzle of 5000 pieces laying on the table right in front of you and thinking you have to get the entire puzzle done right NOW or sometime today. We know this doesn't work. We need to attack it one piece at a time. For those BIG dreamers who believe today is a "make or break" day when it comes to goal attainment, the only way you can find out if you're one of the VERY FEW who can make success happen in a short amount of time is to go do it. If that is you, go put that 5000 piece puzzle together in a day. What you'll discover whether you're a "success now" or "success in incremental steps" kind of person, you'll approach the puzzle in the same manner.... ONE PIECE AT A TIME! That's how you make your dreams come true. You work ONE small, simple right action at a time.

Something else to consider is that anytime you're coming from the mindset that ONE small, simple right action is not enough you are going to produce ten times less! For example, if my friend who owns a cupcake store wants to sell 200,000 cupcakes and she is adamant that focusing on selling 2000 cupcakes is too small, her mindset will actually work against her and cause her to sell only 200 cupcakes. When we come from the mindset that a small action is not enough, it negatively impacts how we feel and therefore negatively impacts our behaviors. This happens all time! Not enough money, not enough time, not enough.... it will always produce ten times less than what you want to accomplish.

If one cupcake, one meeting, one conversation, one thoughtful provoking idea, one workout is not enough, this thought pattern will always produce ten times less because the energy of not enough is what is being putting out into the world, consciously or not. You are literally pushing your goal away. Think about it. If you've ever been in a relationship with someone who thought you weren't enough, how fun was that? How much did you want to be around that person? And, here is what is interesting. I've been in a relationship that unconsciously I wanted the person to be different. I thought he was not enough for me, although that's not what I called it. I wanted him to be more sophisticated, ambitious, and more romantic. I wanted him to be more thoughtful and engaged in our relationship. In hindsight, that relationship wasn't pleasurable for me, and I think it is fair to say it wasn't for him either! If we think the people we're interacting with aren’t enough, they feel it just as much as we do. And the same is true when it comes to our goals. If you feel that ONE small, simple right action, one small milestone, is not enough, your BIG audacious goal feels the same way about you accomplishing it. You’re not enough. You’re not worthy.

Even now, I focus on my goals one day at a time and sometimes one moment at a time. I think about ONE small, simple right action that I can easily do right now that will move me forward. When it comes to my business, I think about one person who would benefit from a coaching relationship or that person who is hesitating to sign up. I think about what she needs to hear to get past the fear and self-doubt, the uncertainty and all the thoughts she is telling herself. I think about what's the ONE thing I can show her to get her excited about my process and see how possible it is to be, do and have the things she desires. As I continue to take ONE small, simple right action to support her through the decision-making process, she eventually overcomes the fear and uncertainty and signs up for coaching. If I continue to take these small, simple right actions each day, it will add up and I will achieve the goals I've set for myself. It will for you too!

Small, do-able steps will take you wherever you want to go. I promise. And, if you want support in discovering your small steps or need accountability as you move through your success journey, email me to schedule a consultation session at Molly@EmpoweredCoaching.com.

What is ONE small, simple right action you can do right now to move yourself forward? Write it in the comments below AND then go do it!