The Next Step

We've all heard the sayings about taking the first step. Some will tell us that the first step is the most important because it is the hardest, because it means that you've accepted that you need to change. And as soon as you break through this mystical barrier of the first step all the other steps will be easy in comparison.

I'm almost ashamed to admit that I have a whole apartment full of the ghosts of my first steps. Look around and you'll find barely used exercise equipment, fitness DVDs, half done art projects, unhung pictures, partially filled boxes, and unread books. I could drown myself in first steps if I wasn't so busy searching for the next first step. As if there is some magical place that I will reach that will allow me the strength, courage, and determination to have all the other steps falling into line.

It's romantic in a way. The idea of starting over, of getting a fresh beginning, of being cleansed makes us all swoon and swear, “I'll be different!”, “I'll be better!” And then we plunge into the next first step of our evolution.

That's why we love New Year's so much. It's a single day where everyone in the world gets a fresh start. A new year. A new you. What will this year have in store for you? Love? Money? Success?

Frankly, there is no starting over. No fresh beginnings. No cleansing rituals. And while the idea of a fresh start may inspire some people to change, most of us just take the first step until we fall back into our own demons and old lives.

I think it's time we stop thinking about our lives as a series of failed first steps and do overs. Stop thinking in starts and stops all together. Because as long as we're alive our lives don't stop, they don't break or pause or wait for us. Life keeps going. And we need to keep going too.

How do we keep going? And where is it exactly that we're trying to go?

The first question is simple: we stop thinking in terms of new beginnings and first steps. We stop segmenting our lives into neat little packages. There is no mystical first step to happiness. Frankly, we stop putting such an emphasis on taking the first step and channel our energies into focusing on our next step. The next step you will take is the most important step you will ever take. Because if you only focus on the first step that's all you'll ever have-- a series of first steps. It's easy to take the first step. It's hard taking the next step.

It's about follow through. Stop tanking time and money on first steps that are only first steps. If you are not focusing on your next step, you are wasting your time and doing yourself a disservice.

Got it? Good.

Now that we've decided to take that next step in our evolution, where is it exactly that we're going?

That depends on where you are. Do you have goals? No? Well, a great next step would be to make some goals. Already have some? Great! What are you doing to achieve those goals?

Just deciding you want to change is a great step if you haven't taken it yet. However, once you take a step it's the next step on which you need to be focusing. Like I said, the next step you take in life is the most important step you will ever take.

Next step for me? Focusing on my goals and finding the next steps to achieve them.