Process Yields Progress - Part 2

Copyright (c) 2010 Nick Nanton

THE FIRST STEP AND WHY IT’S OVERRATED

No, I’m not getting into an argument with myself, it’s true…first steps are absolutely crucial and also amazingly easy!

First of all, people are always incredibly encouraging when you start something new (unless they know you well enough to sense you’re heading for disaster). It’s exciting to them and they live vicariously through you trying something for the first time. Why? Because you have to do all the hard work and all they have to do is watch!

Seriously, how many quotes and advice do you see on beginning something, whether it’s a business or a relationship or just a workout regimen? Whereas, when you’re in the middle of something and whining about it – well, everybody’s in the middle of something and whining about it. And they’d rather listen to themselves whine than listen to you do it!

The first step also often means you’re not putting that much at stake. There’s not a lot invested in it emotionally, physically or financially yet. It’s basically setting a goal and beginning to figure out how you can achieve that goal.

Taking that first step usually means:

• You’re beginning something you want to get done. • You haven’t faced serious opposition to your goal. • You’ve psyched yourself up to get going – so you’re ‘pumped’ to see it through. • Nobody expects a lot from you – because you’re just beginning to find out how it’s done.

In other words, sure, you’re nervous – but you’re okay to start that long ‘thousand mile’ journey, whatever it is. It’s not so bad. You’re choosing to do it. And nobody will be too hard on you about it.

The first step is also generally not that complicated. Remember what the first day of school or a class was like? It was the teacher telling you what you were going to be doing the rest of the semester or year and that’s about it. You didn’t have to worry, at that point, about having homework done or passing any tests. You were just there – trying to stay awake until the bell rang. Hey, even with Coach Wooden, all they had to do was figure out how to put on their socks and shoes the first time he talked to them! Most of us can handle that kind of pressure.

And one last thing about the first step not really being all that bad – you can totally ‘bail’ before the second step. Seriously, most things won’t have horrible consequences if you bail early (guys, this is not an excuse the day after that bachelor party, don’t even think about it!). Maybe you say to yourself, “Hey, I want to learn Mandarin Chinese (I use this example in honor of Lao Tzu).” You take that first step – maybe you get an introduction to a beginner’s Mandarin Chinese book – and then the bolt of lightning hits your brain….“Hey! This is hard! I’d rather spend the effort on __________ (fill in the blank with your next goal).”

What did you lose? …that $9.99 you spent on the book? …and those ten minutes it took you to realize it was hard enough for you to learn English? …let alone this.

Taking one step on the thousand mile journey and changing your mind? No big deal. Getting five hundred miles down the road and changing your mind? Enormous deal. That’s why you can’t…

DON’T JUST MUDDLE THROUGH THE MIDDLE

So let’s talk about being five hundred miles down that thousand mile road. That’s what I like to call the unsung hero of heroic struggles – the middle.

They say the closer you get to the summit, the harder it is to reach it. I’ve chosen to consciously disagree, and you can too with the right mindset – and I talked about this a little at the beginning of this chapter. When you’re so far along, you forgot why you started – but you’re not far enough to see where you’re going – it’s easy to feel like you’re stumbling around in the dark, going through the motions, and completely not getting anywhere.

And that’s where you have to power through with your process. That’s where you have to put your socks and shoes on correctly and keep doing what you’re doing, if you’ve proven to yourself that it works. You may need some adjustments – that’s normal, because the world is always changing – but in general, you have to ‘keep on keeping on’.

I’m speaking from personal experience on that point. For example, a big part of our business involves me speaking at different events all across the country. They are great because they usually generate a lot of interest in our business and we get to build a list of prospects who were interested enough to come out and hear me, and give us their contact information to stay in touch – so it’s almost always a good decision to accept invitations to speak at events. It’s something I’ve learned works for us and it’s definitely a big part of my process.

Well, I was invited to speak at what was billed as a major seminar event in California – and I was told there might be a lot of influential people there that would be interested in doing business, and many of them had very large fan bases (sounds good, but believe me, I’ve heard it before and the delivery of those elements is usually far less than what has been promised). So I thought about it. It was a big commitment (a week in California, away from my family in Orlando), and a big financial commitment (not that it was overly expensive for the trip, but because of my marketing budget at the time, I had to choose between this trip and a new marketing campaign I really wanted to launch).

The California trip, more and more, just felt like a big hassle to me, and an inconvenient one at that. I was ready to skip it, when I remembered that this kind of thing – speaking at places where I could widen my circle of influence and boost my network – was really a vital way that we grow our business. So, I agreed to it.

When I got there, I was amazed at the number of top-tier speakers and writers that were in attendance – it was a room of about 100 people who were all seven figure speakers and authors. I won’t drop names, but I would be willing to bet you’d know at least half of the people in the room. We’re talking about men and women who literally fill STADIUMS with rabid fans wanting to hear them speak, and others who had collectively sold over 100 MILLION books! It was insane! Don’t get me wrong, the seminar was hard work – sessions night and day – but out of that came lots of things, including an invitation to speak at another event which proved to be a huge windfall, and there are many other opportunities still being fleshed out, all because I didn’t forget my basic principles, even when I was reluctant, and I powered through with my process.

To Be Concluded...