Just Do One Thing (now)

Got a big goal or dream in mind? Then, try this: just do one thing that takes you closer to what you want. Just one thing—a single step that feels like progress. Then do one more thing...and another and another. In this way, step by step, you can get to wherever you want to go—or to whoever you want to be. (Think big, start small.)

Even if this suggestion sounds way too simple, which maybe it does, try it anyway. Because, really, what have you got to lose? Here's a tool, costing you nothing and lying right in your lap, which you can use to pursue any goal or dream. However grand it may be.

If you're totally sure it's a goal of your own, just do one thing—take even a single step—and start working toward that goal. Maybe map out some steps, if those would help you stay focused.

Change a habit or develop a new one. Lose weight or get your finances under control. Build a new deck or herb garden. Declutter your house! All these you can do gradually and often painlessly with small steps. The same small steps that can help you meet other goals, as well—gradually and without uproar.

Herein lies the "magic" of small steps. Even the minutest of these—the smallest increment—can help you do remarkable things. That's the good news. The bad news is that it can be hard to take such steps seriously. Lacking the grand sweep of dramatic gestures and bold acts, they seem somehow...pedestrian, inconsequential, perhaps even Boring.

So much so that many of us don't "do" small very well. We forget that great dreams can often be achieved through modest actions. Thus, we can stall ourselves along the path—or even at the starting line. And there we might stay, unless we can somehow yank our feet out of the quicksand.

Don't let that happen to you. Take the first step instead: just do one thing to move yourself along. Then take another step...and another and another. Pretty soon—shazzam!—you're on your way. That's what you can do with small steps ("turtle-tracks," as we call them here). Click on the link to see such steps working in real life: just one thing.

**If procrastination keeps you from pursuing your goals and dreams, check out our sister site at Procrastination Strategies. Or, just read a few more pages to see if this feels like a good place to visit from time to time. Which we hope it does, because the turtle loves company. Thanks for dropping by!