Success is something we always strive for yet we want it at the snap of our fingers. As in the words of the infamous Kanye West, “you need to crawl before you ball.” Mr. West may be a little crazy but sometimes he has a point.
I’m fortunate enough to work and be apart of projects that have great potential to lead to bigger things. The downside I have found is that many of the people I’ve as a consequence encountered, all tend to do the same thing. They focus too much on what it could be. They don’t take the baby steps needed to make their “could be”, a reality.
Your Key To Success
Is in your first step. Now that I sound like DJ Khaled spilling a wealth of knowledge let me elaborate.
Your step could be right, wrong, or completely off. This doesn’t matter. It matters that you realise that in order to move forward in anything, you must actually move in the first place. I know sounds rather “duh” but understand that it’s a small thing that can make people feel stuck.
Take a look at world leaders, celebrities, and others we’ve deemed successful. I guarantee if you look back to see how they got started is was dreaming, believing, and always taking a series of small steps to get them where they wanted to be. Now if you’re me and you like to go zero to hundred real quick (okay my last rap pun – I promise), small steps don’t seem to do enough. But trust me they do. Don’t under estimate those steps it’s there that you learn the most.
Don’t Get Lost In Day Dreams
It’s easy to get lost in the potential of something. I’ve done it plenty of times. The excitement of what the future might bring, what you would be able to do and all the possibilities that could happen. Can have anyone’s head swimming. I mean I’m not thinking of anything in particular right now but just talking about it I can feel my adrenaline building and my daydreams compiling at rapid speed.
But dreaming is the easy part. To dream big doesn’t take much but an imagination and an optimistic attitude. The hard part comes when you take the dream and turn it into a reality. Harsh yes, but entirely the truth. This is the part where a lot of people give up because it’s hard, there isn’t always a road map for achieving what you want, and your way there can be a tad bit unpredictable to say the least.
Don’t Have A Clue That’s Okay No One Does At First
Launching my first ever crowdfunding campaign for a project I was deeply passionate about, I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I knew what the goal was but I had no clue how I was going to get there. So I took the initiative and started doing some research on what made a successful crowdfunding campaign and how others fully funded their’s. With that research I gained knowledge, tips, and ideas on how I could go about creating my own. That one small step of doing research led me to another step and another step. The campaign became fully funded and we even got double the amount we had asked for.
The point of that story is to show you that the only thing keeping you from pursuing something is not taking the first step. Now the first step can be scary especially if you don’t want to make a mistake. But if the reasoning for not doing something is your fear of making the wrong choice then answer this for me. Is it a mistake if it leads you to the right path?
There Are No Such Things As Mistakes
Oprah Winfrey, aka my idol, has been known to say “there are no mistakes in life.”Oprah cannot tell a lie so I’m going to go ahead and say it must be true. On a serious note if you stop to think about this statement you’ll understand what she’s talking about. Everything that has happened or will happen in your life that you consider a mistake has and will always lead you to where you’re supposed to be. Whether you need to be there to learn skills, meet people, or lend your talents there is a reason.
Personally I’ve never found mistakes to be something to fear. Growing up teaches you that mistakes are chances to learn and do better next time. But if you let fear stop you from taking your first steps, all that will do is keep you exactly where you are. And lets face it if that is where you wanted to be you probably wouldn’t be daydreaming of all the things you could do.
Just remember you’re always one step away. If it helps you can do what I do and think of it as a game, like “The Game of Life” or maybe more “Chutes and Ladders” depending on your preference. I’ve always been a “Chutes and Ladders” girl myself.
