by: Jenni Burton, Founder, ASPIRE Consulting & Coaching, LLC
Thinking about doing something big? Something different? Something that has been on your mind for awhile? I’m going to give some controversial advice… you should start. Today.
Why is this controversial? One of the biggest areas that holds us back from making change in our lives in the inability to start. We might rationalize with perfectly acceptable evaluations, such as ensuring the timing is right, understanding the challenges, securing our finances, working through pros/cons, doing research, or quite frankly – we might not know where to start.
It is soooo tempting to over-do this evaluation, let self-doubt sneak in, or over-scrutinize every detail so much you talk yourself out of doing exactly what you want to do. And then a few months later it sneaks back. “But I overthought you a few months ago… why are you back?!”
Should I apply to that job? Should I try something new? Should I submit that idea? Should I go for that promotion? Should I start that business?
Yes, you should start.
I grew up going from gym to gym, playing as much basketball as I could because I absolutely loved the sport. My dad, a competitive and strategic coach, coached my 8th grade team. He had a saying that my family all recites at the start of any tournament to this day. It goes like this: “The first rule of the tournament: win the first game”. We quickly found that the second rule was to win the second game, and so on.
Science tells us there is quite a bit of motivation wrapped up in here. In a great HBR article, The Power of Small Wins, the authors Teresa M. Amabile and Steven J. Kramer demonstrate that the greatest motivation and results (as well as our perception of those results) come from progress or small wins. “Everyday progress – even a small win – can make all the difference in how they [the subjects in the study] feel and perform.”
While a funny side note on my 8th grade basketball team, we won a lot of games that year. I can’t help but think that my dad was inspiring his own version of the power of small wins.
You focus on the task at-hand instead of worrying about the ending. One step at a time. One win at a time. You progress until you reach your goal.
Starting today brings you one step closer. It allows us the opportunity to learn and build small wins on the path to success. We learn so much from beginning, even if we don't know exactly where to start. It brings us out of the hypothetical and into action.
What is something you have been thinking about doing? What is one small action you could take toward that goal?
Start. Today.
Jenni Burton is the Founder of ASPIRE Consulting & Coaching, LLC
Founded 2020
Sources:
Amabile, T. & Kramer, S. (2011). The Power of Small Wins. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from:
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