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MY FAVORITE ROCK group is the Beach Boys. I particularly like their song Wouldn’t It Be Nice. It’s about young love, and how life would be so wonderful if only they were married and lived together.
I believe that phrase “wouldn’t it be nice” has been voiced by most of us at one time or another. The notion: If things were different, all would be good.
Unfortunately, few people display the persistence needed to turn their dreams into reality. How do you go from wishing to achieving? The method I’ve used is to break down a goal into the smaller steps needed to get me to what I wanted.
If I needed a job, I could wish for a fairy godmother to grant me my wish, or I could hope friends would do the heavy-lifting by identifying that ideal employer. These would fall into the “wouldn’t it be nice” category. But I assumed such things wouldn’t happen.
That’s why I did things like sign up for LinkedIn to build my professional network. I was supposed to invite only people I knew or friends of people I knew. But I didn’t think that would result in a large enough network. I simply requested to connect with anybody who was currently in the insurance industry in the New York metropolitan area. The result? Before LinkedIn told me to stop asking strangers to connect, I’d greatly enlarged my network.
Although this tactic didn’t land me a job, the one I did get was from someone who’d known me for years and saw my LinkedIn profile. The important takeaway from my LinkedIn efforts: It allowed me to do something productive, so I felt I was getting closer to my next job. Each LinkedIn invitation I sent out was a small step that helped get me closer to my goal.
Indeed, doing is the key element here. Regardless of the ultimate goal you’re seeking, taking action will make you less anxious and keep you focused.
How do salespeople meet their sales target? They try to sell to lots of people. Each sales call is a step toward their goal, and improves their odds of success. This same approach works with other goals. Even if the things you do each day don’t get you directly to your goal, you’ll probably gather useful new information.
This step-by-step approach also works if your goal is to be rich. Your first step is to get income. In most cases, that means getting a job. The next step is to acquire the habit of paying yourself first. Before your money goes to any bills, entertainment or other spending, be sure you sock away some money. Your next step might be to increase your income without increasing your expenses, so you can save even more.
As you complete each step, you should acknowledge that the step has been achieved. That will give you strength to achieve the next step. Inch by inch everything’s a cinch. Yard by yard everything gets really hard. Go for the inches to achieve your yards.
My dad used to say “The harder I work, the luckier I get!”
I appreciate this quote which is attributed to John Wooden: “When opportunity knocks, it is too late to prepare.”
We should live our daily life with an eye on how we act in the present may be able to help us benefit in the future. Life is full of choices, and at each step, the choices we make should be the ones that open up more and better options for us in the future. There aren’t too many times in life where one should make a choice that forecloses valuable future options, unless one is very, very sure that that choice is nevertheless the right one.
Agreed. After moving residences for instance, felt overwhelmed by the mess and reorganization ahead but by doing a little bit every day, I now know where everything is again. Never forgot how a former boss phrased it as, “making a dent.”
Nice article David. I’m a big believer in the value of taking small steps. I wrote an article in 2020 with similar themes, but I used a movie as introduction!
David, great posting!!
My favorite Beach Boys song is
‘God only knows’.
Which – IIRC – was the flip-side of the 45 with your favorite.
(yes … I am that old)
Two of my favorite BB songs on one 45!
Positive self-talk helps too: Some days in retirement I feel like I’ve accomplished nothing. But when I’m feeling that way at the end of the day, or even midday, I stop and think for a minute and usually find that I’ve done more than I thought. That encourages me to continue or to write out my to-do list for tomorrow.
Good thoughts, David. I have been amazed how small, deliberate actions have lead to fulfilled dreams in my life.
Good analogy David. I always wanted to be my own boss, but I fell into a very comfortable rut for the first 30 years of my adult life. When osteoarthritis and planter fasciitis forced me from my rut I finally began doing the things that would eventually take me where I wanted to go as a younger man. I’m living proof that it can be done. It’s like trying to eat an elephant, you just need to take one bite at a time.
“one bite at a time” a.k.a. the salami technique: first divide the task into thin slices. (Elephants don’t taste as good.)