A whole week…hard to believe I’ve been away that long.
What have I been up to? As you might have guessed, I was busy getting things wrapped up for the year.
That meant getting my business organized, buying presents, setting up appointments for the holidays, packing, thinking and countless other things. I’m sure most of you can relate.
I had planned to spend a typical X-Mas vacation, but with the help of a few friends, my vacation became more of a working holiday.
One talk and a radio interview already finished, now I’m gearing up for my first speaking engagement which will be held on the 1st.
And in the coming year I intend to do more of the same.
Will my first seminar be a smashing success? Fingers crossed, but let me get back to you on that.
All I can do is be prepared.
That means planning and a whole lot of thinking because trying to encapsulate so much into a short presentation isn’t easy.
Which brings me to today’s topic – that elusive first step.
Everyone I know has something they want to achieve and with the end of the year just around the corner, I’m sure that many people are looking over their accomplishments of the past year and wondering what the next year will hold for them.
For those whose 2011 was a success, they hope for more of the same. On the other hand, if 2011 was one of those years we want to forget then people like to believe that things couldn’t get any worse in 2012.
This site is all about people wanting to take action to make their lives better, and it’s as much for people who don’t have much as it is for those with a lot.
My goal is to help people achieve more. For some that means righting wrongs of the past and completely changing their lives. If I can do that, great. But if you’re already successful, I hope the advice I pass on will make you even more successful. And if you’re happy, I hope the ideas you find on these pages will make you happier.
But in order to do any of that we all need to take the first step. For me, that means studying, writing and presenting material. And for my readers, that means applying the ideas you find of value.
In either case, it’s the first step that we seem to have trouble with.
I’m not a public speaker by trade so I somehow doubt my talk will go off without a hitch, but each mistake can only make me stronger.
We forget that through our mistakes we are given the opportunity to become better.
Too many of us fear failure, which is often why people choose not to take that first step. Our thinking is if we don’t risk anything, then we can’t fail.
But this is where people get it wrong. Everything is risky. In fact, not doing anything is often riskier than doing something.
We can’t avoid risk…we believe we can by hiding at home watching our favorite shows, but one day we will pay the price for our “being safe.”
Our first steps resulted in falling down…but we got back up and tried again.
Our first relationships often fail…but that didn’t deter us.
Our first business ventures often fail…but they become our lessons for our next business.
We fail, we try again. We fail, we try again. And then, sooner or later, we get it right.
And when you get it right, people forget all those times you got it wrong.
Jordan, Lincoln, Edison, Federer failed numerous times. And they are considered some of most successful people in their respective fields.
The first step is just that, a step. It’s not the final goal.
So if you’ve got an idea you’ve been meaning to try out, now is the time to get started.
That may mean just ordering a book, doing 5 push-ups, or writing up a business proposal. Whatever it is, it’s not going to do it by itself.
To make things happen, we must be willing to invest the time, the energy and sometimes the money.
5 minutes is all it takes to get started. And those 5 minutes will get you one step closer to your goals.
And in most cases, that’s the toughest part.
Adrian Shepherd
ps. a belated Merry X-Mas to everyone : )