If you want to be successful in something, is it better to use a “small steps” approach or a “massive action” approach?
The answer: It depends.
It depends on who you are.
It depends on the approach that’s worked for you in the past, often without you being aware of it.
It depends upon which approach is sustainable.
It also depends upon how many small steps actually make up “massive action.”
Perhaps, in the end, they’re the same – or they end up in the same place, albeit with different lingo to get you started.
If a person is 100 pounds overweight and hasn’t exercised in years, I would suggest small steps lingo for getting fit.
If a person wants to become a novelist, small steps again.
But if there’s a catastrophe, which approach is better?
On the outside, massive action appears to be the order of the day. Yet, when you break “massive action” down, what will you see?
A thousand or more steps, each of which, when viewed as a whole, look HUGE.
When it comes to visualization, I do not advocate 30 or 60-minute sessions.
For someone starting out, 15 minutes is probably too long as well.
How about getting started with five minutes – or even a minute?
Coax yourself along. Don’t force yourself.
This may appear inadequate to affect change, but I have seen the small steps approach work over and over again, in virtually every field.
When I coach people I literally break things down to the simplest, easiest steps imaginable.
If any step appears difficult, too hard or scary, I strike it.
I realize this flies in the face of many, many maxims, such as “get out of your comfort zone,” – yet, I’ve found it to work wonders.
More on this in the future.
In the interim…
See it. Feel it. Do it.
Matt Furey
