Of course, I want to know. I want to know that it will all work out. I want to know that the project, relationship, -- my whole life -- will have a happy ending. I’m also a firm believer in contributing to the outcomes I want.
So, I will just construct an elaborate plan that lays out all the details so I can make sure that everything is covered. I’ll even throw in some contingency plans in case things go sideways. I’ll draw a systems map, make a project plan, do my inner work, talk to my therapist, and create a never ending to-do list. Oh wait, now I’m overwhelmed. Maybe I shouldn’t even do this. This looks really hard and who is to say it will even work out.
Perhaps this tendency to create a grand plan doesn’t assure my success. Especially if it discourages me from taking action.
I’ve noticed a commonality among many of the practices that resonate with me. The idea is to take things one step at a time. With each step, I gain new information and feelings that can guide me to the next step and the next and the next.
Coaching: What is one small sweet step?
GTD: What’s the next actionable step?
Oprah: “The truth is success is a process. Life isn’t some big break like everybody thinks it is. It’s actually about taking one significant life-transforming step at a time.”
Design: Test the smallest intervention possible, learn, and iterate.
When my planning mind demands to know and be certain, I can remind myself of the wisdom of taking one small step at a time.
I need a plan! → I will see the plan as it unfolds
I want to have it all figured out → I will figure it out, I just don’t know all of IT yet
I need to know → I will know, in time
I want to be strategic → Small steps help me navigate to my destination
I want to know my effort is going somewhere → I trust the process
Before I know it, I can start to taste those delicious outcomes I’ve been hoping for. Cultivating my presence and attention to the next step in front of me is an elegant process and solution. The details will reveal themselves to me as I go. Because I have cultivated adaptability, I can trust that my efforts will guide me in the direction of my grand dreams.
[Photo of a small child in overalls and a bucket hat looking at a daunting set of steep stairs. Photo by Jukan Tateisi from Unsplash. https://jukan.co/]