Do you have some dreams deep in your heart that you want to achieve?
Have you taken any steps to achieve your dreams? It is said that first step is perhaps one of the most difficult. But, once you take the first step, everything else follows!! So, now is the time to take first step towards achieving your dream…
I realized this during one of my trips to a Hill Station with a group of friends and corporate trainers. I want to share my dramatic experience with you. This experience helped me realize that it is only the first step that’s difficult. Once you take it, other steps become easier !! Before I share my experience,You might also be interested in checking out my article on secrets of success.
The Dramatic Experience:
I had gone their with several of my friends and a team of corporate trainers.
On the second day of our trip, the corporate trainers took us near a mountain. One side of that mountain was very steep, it was similar to a wall. We were standing near the bottom of the mountain. Approximately 300 feet above us, we saw a person standing, waiting for us. He was one of the corporate trainers.
They told us that we had to climb down that mountain (300 feet) with the help of a rope. The process is called Rappelling. It was so damn scary, how the hell could we do it? I was afraid to go ahead and that was not just me. I could read the scared facial expressions on many of my friends’ faces. They were scared as hell. But none of us probably wanted to say – “I will not do it”, because we probably wanted to look like ‘brave’ in front of each other. You see – There was a lot of peer pressure.
On top of this, I was the among the first few to be called by the corporate trainers to climb down the mountain.
When I reached that spot from where we had to climb down, I looked down, All of my friends were looking as tiny as an ant. You can’t even imagine how scary it was. In that moment, I realized I did have some fear of heights. The corporate trainer standing there helped me in wearing safety equipment. Although I had worn it, I was still very very scared.
I looked down again, I told him it seems very difficult. He said – “Try, you can do it”.
As soon as I took my first step, my legs started trembling, I am not kidding, they literally started shaking. Just Imagine the situation – someone being there on top of 300 feet mountain, he has to climb down through a steep slope of almost 90 degrees, while holding a rope tied to a tree and some safety equipment and the person has to climb down, while his legs are shaking.
Frankly speaking, I was very afraid, What else can you expect from a person who had never done something like this before…. it seemed too tough for me.
After taking a few deep breaths, I told myself – I take it as a challenge and I would want to do it. The first step seemed extremely difficult. The corporate trainer was standing near me and he encouraged me to continue. Gradually, I started taking the next steps, I began to feel more confident with each step downwards. Whoa !! It seemed easier, in the next few seconds I had climbed down the mountain. Can you imagine!! I had climbed down 300 feet!! Yipppieee, I had accomplished that Goliath looking task. Yeah.
The Realization:
Just then – I realized that – In life, whenever we try to do something new, whenever we try to do something that we have probably not done before, It is only the first step that seems difficult. May be we are afraid of it because we have not done something similar before….But once we take the first step, we realize that we can do it, things start seeming easier, we start gaining confidence and we feel more motivated to accomplish that task.
That’s why I can say this with experience : Once you take the first step, other steps will become easier for you.
So, Don’t just wait to do it later; Don’t listen to others who say you can’t do it. Don’t think you will not be able to do it, Try building up some faith in yourself and take the plunge – Just go for it. Take the first step and other steps will seem easier.
Implementing this principle again after the realization
After getting back from the trip, there have been numerous times, I have implemented this strategy and it has worked every single time. Whenever you feel scared or fearful, remember, it is only the first step that seems difficult. I have recently written an article on How to stop living in fear? You might like it once you check it out.
Another experience that I want to share:
From my schooling days, I had a dream deep down in my heart that I wanted to start my own business. The resolve became stronger during my college days. While studying for post graduation, I decided that I would do job in a good company for a few years and once I have some good experience, I would start on my own. Post that, I worked in FedEx for two and a half years as a Territory manager.
When I gave my resignation before quitting the job, I started having goosebumps. At that time, I was in a comfortable nice paying job, I was one of the top performers of my team. I also had a detailed discussion about this with my boss at that time, He told me that new business involves uncertainties. He asked my to take back the resignation and continue with the job. But I really wanted to work towards achieving my dream. Leaving the comfort zone of a nice comfortable job seemed tough. And that, no salary amount will be deposited in my account every month, man that feeling was really scary!!. You see, business does have its ups and downs and is full of uncertainties.
At that time, I remembered this rappelling incident again, I knew it would only be the first step that would be difficult. Everything else would follow through. I am glad to share with you, that I co-founded a digital marketing and development company at that time and ran it successfully for more than seven years, before taking another difficult step and co-founding BetterAuds a few years ago.
Was it difficult, it was! Am I enjoying the journey, Yes I am!
How to take the first step to achieve your dreams and goals?
1. Always remember: Progress is better than waiting for perfection
Generally, a lot of us keep waiting for the perfect situation. We think that we will start when the situation is favorable. But my dear friend, situation will not become favorable by itself. Think about it….. Will the situation become favorable by itself if you don’t work towards it??? Somebody has to work towards making the situation favorable and that somebody has to be ‘YOU’.
A few years back, I attended a 7 months extensive workshop on business coaching. There were a lot of solid principles that were taught to us during that workshop. One of them was:
“Progress is better than waiting for perfection”
So many people are not able to follow their dreams because they keep waiting for the perfect situation. They keep waiting for all traffic lights to turn green before they start the journey from their home. Striving for perfection can sometimes stall projects for months or years. It is important to realize this and focus on progressing.
If you want you can try out affirmations to help you develop a positive mindset, which in turn will help you in achieving your goals.
2. Stop waiting for others to agree with you
A lot of people do not get successful because they keep waiting for their friends and family to agree with their vision. It is very important not to wait until others agree with you.
I will share a story about a very close friend of mine.
She had been a very bright student during her college. After completing her post graduation, she got married and then had kids shortly after that. It has been a few years and she has been a homemaker since then. Nowadays she does have a lot of free time with herself. A few months back, she decided to start a new venture of her own. She has a pretty good knowledge about the fashion industry. She started an Instagram page and wanted to be an influencer. She kept working hard for a few months. She kept posting photographs and advertised on the platform as well. She got more than ten thousand followers during those few months and even started working with a few brands to promote the brands on her instagram page.
There were some people who were close to her and they kept on suggesting to her that
- There is so much competition
- Instagram Influencers don’t make much money
- Brands offer products to influencers for shoutouts, but they don’t offer money.
- It requires a lot of hard work and time to get successful.
- You have started too late
Ultimately, she gave up. She quit her journey midway before becoming a big Instagram influencer. But she waited for others around her to agree with her. And when they didn’t agree with her aspirations, she quit. It was sad to see a ‘great influencer in making’ to have quit.
Another example from history where wright brothers persevered and did not quit:
In the nineteenth century, When Wright Brothers dreamed of creating a machine that would be heavier than air and would fly in air. People did not agree with them, people called them mad. But Wright brothers did not wait for others to agree with them, They had faith in their dream and they kept working to achieve it. And today, we are able to travel in luxurious airplanes only because of Wright Brothers’ will to achieve their goal and because they did not wait for others to agree with them.
If they could do it, so can you.
Of course, there might be obstacles and challenges on the way. People who want to work on achieving their goals conquer those obstacles. Here is a list of 7 secret ways to develop a Millionaire Mindset!
3. Stop waiting because you do not have the required skills
Many people keep waiting because they think they do not have the required skills to do what they wish to do. But cant’ the skills be learned?? Aren’t their enough teachers/tutorials available?? How about googling on a subject you do not know??
I understand that for many people, learning something new can be difficult. But, its only a matter of quitting procrastination and trying (yes, trying and taking that crucial first step) to get the skills required to achieve what they want.
I was keen to have a website of my own. When I started with blogging, I could have quit easily because I was a newbie in blogging, Yeah, really. I did not know anything about blogging. But I learnt from the tutorials available on internet, I started my journey on the path of learning about blogging. In fact, I am still learning something new every day!! But because I made efforts to get the skills required, today, I have been able to touch lives of more than 100,000 people through my blog (as of publishing date of this blog post) !!
If I can do it, so can you.
Hopefully, this article would have helped you in deciding to take the first step to achieve your dreams and goals. The power lies in your own hands. The path might be difficult, but if you persevere, you can make it happen.
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