“Extraordinary results require you to go small.” —Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, authors of The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth about Extraordinary Results

Whenever I visit Portland, I try to find time to wander through an older neighborhood full of homes with long-ago planted gardens containing trees and shrubs lovingly cared for and now demonstrating the full potential of their particular varietal. From Japanese maple trees, laurel hedges, camellias and of course roses, each one planted long ago captures my awe, and my fascination and admiration for the priceless gift of gardens on our well-being and calm continues to expand.

However, even each one of those admired plants, trees or shrubs began in a state of infancy, and it was with patience, focus and nourishment that enabled the garden to gradual grow into what delights passersby and no doubt its habitants today.

To uproot and attempt to transplant an aged acer (Japanese maple), or any deeply rooted and long-matured by years plant is to risk killing it and bringing to an end what you loved because it was thriving where it is. The great life, the great outcome, the great success you dream about, parallels the journey of a flourishing established garden: for assured success, we must begin small.

Each situation’s ‘small’ will be unique, but what we give ourselves when we begin small is the foundation of stability, and in the long run, this is a priceless asset to have. In other words, we give ourselves time to build strong roots whether that be a knowledge base that will serve us even better as we make our way along our journey, more confidence because we will be tested along the way, more resources and how to utilize them wisely when we know something is worth investing in or we hit a temporary hiccup.

Should we begin in a grand fashion or when our dreams plop into our lap, not only would we likely not appreciate what was given, but we wouldn’t know how to maintain it or nourish it. In other words, the foundation isn’t set, and it is likely to collapse nearly as quickly as it arrived.

Okay, so we’ve started small using the clarity we gained regarding what we wish to pursue. Now, even though we know the desired end point, what we need next is a clear vision of progress toward that outcome.

Gary Keller and Jay Papasan explain in their book The ONE Thing that part of the reason long-term goals struggle to be reached is that “the farther away a reward is in the future, the smaller the immediate motivation is to achieve it.” Their suggestion to remedy this obstacle is to create a “Goal Setting to the Now”. In other words, break down your desired outcome all the way down to what you can do today, the next best step, to bring you ‘one step closer’ to your goal. Create this vision board or outline for yourself breaking it down beyond the ultimate goal — five year outcome (if it is a significantly lengthy goal to reach), then the one year outcome, followed by a month-to-month outcome, the weekly, then daily, and then literally, right now, what is the best thing you can be doing that will edge you closer to your goal.

This ultimately is a vision you will have written down and will look at regularly – yep, daily, weekly, monthly, etc.

Currently, as I shared in January and February, I have been working on two different goals, one personal and one business, and with each one, while I have the end goal, I have broken down by month what tasks will be completed, and then I write down weekly objectives, simply one thing that I can do that week that will support any progress toward my goal, and then during each day, I have my daily schedule. I don’t obsess, or overthink. It is already planned out; I am just checking in with myself and ensuring that I am on track, and so long as I am, I permit to relax and savor the gaps in my days, nourishing myself as necessary, pushing myself when it is called for, but reminding myself that my goals cannot be reached more quickly simply because I want them to. Patience is required, as I have to start small.

Let’s talk about what studies say about the likelihood of success when it comes to planning. In The One Thing, the authors shared “a study in which 262 students were observed to see the impact of visualization on outcomes. The students were asked to visualize in two ways: Those in one group were told to visualize the outcome and the others were asked to visualize the process needed to achieve a desired outcome. In the end, students who visualized the process performed better across the board in reaching their desired outcome. In the case of this study, [the latter group] studied earlier and more frequently and earned higher grades than those who simply visualized the outcome.”

So while it may seem to be extra work to write out the efforts you can make weekly, monthly, yearly, etc., when you do so, you give yourself direction and immediate motivation to get started. Remember how the authors shared when a goal is far off into our future, the motivation wanes? By “Goal Setting to the Now”, we heighten motivation, and this, with each step even when we begin with the small, gradually grows into the something big that we had envisioned.

And the final step to ensure success is reached is to act! Take that one step today that will add to the next steps you will eventually take moving forward and gradually you will find that you are where you wish to arrive.

So to simplify the steps to success in its natural time for enduring success:

1. Have clarity about your purpose (i.e. desired outcome)
2. Start small (gear up your patience muscle)
3. Visualize the steps using the “Goal Setting to the Now” method (reviewing and checking them often)
4. Take action! (checking in regularly as you step!)

Now this four-step approach may seem too simple to be true or it may seem too exhaustive and wasting time for it to be worth it, but if either of those responses pop up into your mind, explore how badly you seek the outcome you have your heart set on? Or is your heart really set on it? If your heart is set on it, if this outcome you desire won’t leave your mind, the patience will be a small investment to give and the steps will indeed be clear and simple allowing you to find balance in your life as you journey in the direction of your eventual success.

Stay the course, drill down on the concrete actions, one at a time, needed to take along the way, and you will soon be where you now wish to arrive.

Wishing you a wonderful week and thank you for stopping by. 😌

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