Why taking smaller steps can sometimes be more beneficial than potentially overwhelming, bigger ones.
It’s true that ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’ and I believe this can be applied to many things in life, including your business journey. Here’s what I mean…
Making a step change in business means making a change that has noticeable effects on how you work, or your income, for example.
What obstacles might come up on your business journey?
When making a step change, you will undoubtedly come across obstacles, which may include:
• An imbalance of funding vs growth
• Competition
• Lack of demand
• Being time poor
• Struggling to keep up with marketing activities
There will undoubtedly be challenges and obstacles that make you question your skill, ability and/or drive, but while these obstacles can threaten to derail you, I’ve found that if I slow down and take smaller steps I’m far more likely to be able to approach them with motivation.
The bigger the step, the bigger the obstacle, the bigger the solution (or motivation) needed… I often say that a big step has many things that can stop us from progressing and the cumulative challenges can overwhelm us or fuel procrastination. However, with smaller steps they are often surmountable with a little reflection when needed.
Smaller steps are easier to approach and therefore easier to overcome.
Why else is it important to take smaller steps on your business journey?
When you take smaller steps, you achieve more frequently – yes it might be a smaller win, but it gives you an opportunity to recognise and celebrate a win more often.
I recently saw a great idea on LinkedIn… Every time you achieve something to be proud of, make a note and put it in a jar to look through at the end of the year. You’ll find you have hundreds of little wins that add up to a whole jar full of success!
Startup entrepreneurs aren’t always great at stopping and taking note of the small wins.
More often than not you’re focussed on the top of the staircase – the end goal and might forget to pay proper consideration to the smaller steps to reach the top – remember, each step gives us more choices, challenges and failures to learn from and they’re important steps to take.
Rather than trying to turn those steps into an escalator try to regulate your pace, because life doesn't give us things that quickly and that easily does it?
I know different people get to the end in different ways. We all have different businesses and ideas, different definitions of what success looks like and different desires. For example, I'm very structured in terms of ‘getting there’ with very small steps, and other people will have a bit of a zigzag going on, while some will have a larger stride and take naturally bigger steps.
My best advice to you is that you need to find your own way, your own stride, because a journey of a thousand miles begins with just one step, and it’s a very uncomfortable journey going at someone else’s pace…
I hope that my encouragement to take your business journey at your own pace helps you achieve big results, all the best.
Mike Foster
The Entrepreneur's Mentor
