The First Step Is Always the Hardest

By Mark Fulton

Nike launched a very successful ad campaign 10 years ago that challenged us to “Just Do It.” The commercials feature people doing all kinds of extreme stuff, insinuating that we sofa slugs should get out there and live life to the fullest, take a few risks and, presumably, wear Nike athletic shoes while doing “it.”

Because the ads have never really identified what “it” is, many of us less adventuresome types have been shamed into painting the patio furniture, cleaning out the attic and doing a lot of other things we didn’t really have to do.

Taking action is important if we are ever going to accomplish our goals. Actions, after all, do speak louder than words, so we should do more than just talk about our ambitions. But we need to be careful about how, where and when we take action or we could end up jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

What are the actions you have been contemplating lately? Is there a task that needs to be accomplished; a problem that needs to be solved; a decision that needs to be made; a habit that needs to be changed; a relationship that needs to be strengthened?

What has been keeping you from taking action? Are you afraid to fail; prone to procrastination; short on resources; immobilized by analy-sis paralysis? Have your good intentions been thwarted by the sheer magnitude of what you are shooting for?

Hockey player Wayne Gretzky has a story from early in his career about a coach who became frustrated with Gretzky’s lack of scoring during an important game. The coach made his point privately when he told the young player, “You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take.” Gretzky went on to become the National Hockey League’s career scoring leader. In hockey and in life, the ultimate requirement for making a goal is taking a shot at it.

Achieving a business or personal goal is a lot like launching the space shuttle. The greatest amount of energy is expended at liftoff — overcoming inertia and fighting the force of gravity. Taking the first step toward accomplishing a goal is often the hardest because we have to strive against the weight of our own inactivity.

Yet once we get some forward momentum going, the next step and the one after that become progressively easier. Even though that first step may seem like the one a skydiver takes out of an airplane, taking it can be the beginning of an extraordinary adventure that will have you soaring with eagles.

Knowing that you must act and taking the first step are just two factors in the process of getting from where you are to where you want to go. Here are some others that will increase your chances of reaching your destination:

• Identify the specific outcome you desire. A clear vision of what you want to do, have or be is vital for success. Stephen Covey says that all things are created twice. The physical creation follows the mental creation.
• Write out the potential benefits of reaching your goal. What value will these benefits add to your life? Writing out what you hope to gain adds fuel to your motivation motor.
• Break the journey to your destination into steps. Any task, no matter how big, can be subdivided into smaller, less intimidating actions. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
• Schedule those small steps toward a goal into your week. Use whatever time-management system you employ to make an appointment with yourself — one that is impervious to the tyranny of the urgent.
• Ask someone to hold you accountable. This takes courage. Once you tell a friend or colleague about your intentions and ask that person to check your progress, you add to your action plan the leverage of not wanting to look like a loser to someone you respect. It works.
• Set a deadline for starting and completing an action. Tomorrow is the busiest day of the week, but that’s where a lot of our actions begin. Determine exactly when you will take a step and give yourself a time limit for completing it.
• Develop a way to measure results. Otherwise, how will you know when you’ve achieved them?
• Plan to reward yourself. Make it something worthwhile, something you enjoy. Let someone else help. You’re on your own from here.

Question: If four out of five frogs sitting on a log decide to jump off, how many are left? Answer: Five. Anybody — or in this case, any frog — can decide to do something. But that doesn’t mean anything actually gets done.

You gotta jump. Just do it — with or without athletic footwear.


© Copyright 1999 Mark S. Fulton