Small Life Increments

Yesterday I watched a movie made in 1958. I never do that. Well almost never. But this one was different.
My mother was enamored by Gladys Aylward. I gather that in the day she was a somebody. They did a movie of her life. Her story came up in our church and Wendy bought the fang-dangled color redo version of "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness." I watched it. I loved it. I highly recommend it. And I am not going to tell you about it. But I learned good life lessons from it.
Here is one of the lessons. Just do what you can do today. Take the next step. Just one small step. One small increment that may take you to where you need to be. If you have run into a seemingly insurmountable roadblock, just find something good to do. Okay take a little time for your pity party, temper tantrum or pout first if you must. But take a step.
This might help you.
On a scale of 1 to 10 how are you doing today?
If today is a 5, say, what is the one best thing you could do today that might take it up to 5.25?
Stop. Look deep into the well of your life and answer that.
Your first answer is likely, "I don't know." Not good enough. Actually, if that is your first answer, you are not in the right mode yet. That is probably so because you are trying to evaluate all the possible actions before you even think of them all.
So if the next step is not clear to you here is what to do. Get a piece of paper or a computer keyboard and start writing the list of possible alternative next steps. Don't evaluate as you go. Just let your mind stream out the possibilities. This is something just for "me, myself and I" - you don't have to actually do anything about this at this point. Just brainstorm a list.
And you must write it out. You can't just think it out. When you just leave it inside your head all you do is go in circles. Probably you just keep circling around all the reasons why the thing that is stopping you isn't fair. Let's be perfectly clear. The task is not to list all the past events that got you here. The task is not to list all the ways in which others have let you down. The task is not to list all the things you can't do. If you just leave it inside your head you are going to dwell on these lists. Now stop that. Start writing.
Have you got 3 things that are possible yet? Good that is a start. Now have you got 10? How about 20?
Take a break and go for a walk. Don't try to think it through just take a physical healthy break. A good snooze might be what you need more than a walk if you have already done exercise today. If you are at work and the boss won't understand seeing your head down on your desk then you may have to wait for your next coffee break. Just go walk 10-20 flights of stairs if that is all that is available to you. When you come back, try adding to your list again.
Go back and forth on this list. Find the most powerful positive action you can do. If it makes you feel like someone just gave you a bottle of vinegar to drink, don't despair. See if you can take a small part of the daunting action and do that.
Here is an example. Suppose you think that the best thing you can do is talk to Mr. X but that scares you spitless. Take a part of it. Write out (get the pattern here ... write out) the list of points you need to make with Mr. X. If that is too scary take a smaller part. Write out how the conversation will start. Maybe, "Mr. X I have some important things to talk about with you but I am scared to do it." Maybe all you can do is find the phone number for Mr. X. Maybe that is the entire action for today. Put something in that bottle of vinegar. Water it down. Sweeten it up. Disguise it. But don't pour it down the sink.
Now do it.
Not ready yet? Okay. Write out when you will do it. Remember, if you just think out when you will do it your mind will play games with you. When the time comes you will be tempted to mess up that appointment with yourself. You will conveniently forget. You will interrupt yourself with something else to do. Make the appointment. Just take a post it note that says 3:48 pm and put it on your computer monitor. Notice the specificity. If you say between 3 and 4 your mind is still tentative. Put an exact time down there. It will be like a neon light flashing into your sub-conscious. Your mind will be getting you ready for the event.
Find the important one small increment you can do today. Develop a habit that takes life one good step at a time and maybe, just maybe they will do what they did with Gladys Aylward. They actually made that movie before she died. And all she did was a series of small increments.
Gary V Carter is a Certified Master Life Coach from Brampton Canada. For life enhancement tips, visit http://blog.LifeCoach411.com
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