My blog last week was about the knowing-doing gap, knowing what you need to do to accomplish your goals, but getting stuck in the “doing”. I gave some suggestions of how to find your way out of that gap. In writing that blog, something funny happened: I realized I was in middle of the knowing –doing gap myself.
I had a programmer create a temporary website for my business to serve as a basic informational and contact website until I finished designing the layout of my permanent website. Since I set that temporary site up, I have been caught up in internal turmoil over exactly how I want my permanent site to look. Do I want a blog centered site or more informational? How should I do the layout? What colors and pictures should I use? How many tabs? How much content? I have been driving myself crazy with all the details to the point of indecision and yes, no movement. Stuck.
I needed to break it down into turtle steps. Turtle steps are steps so small that the feeling of overwhelm does not stop me from completing the task. When I say small, I mean miniscule. I broke it down to just e-mailing an inquiry to two web designers I know to ask about layouts and blog templates. My next small step was to research other web designers. I could put this small task as a half an hour appointment in my daily schedule. The next day I could narrow down my list of potential designers and call them for price quotes, another short half hour task. After a few days, I began to think about how I wanted to organize the tabs on my website. Before I knew it, these small steps had led to something huge: I had a new framework for my website design. Now I could actually have it built and refine it from there. No more endless thought swirls telling me what I should or shouldn’t do, it was all about action.
By taking my actions and breaking them down into small steps I didn’t have that feeling of I don’t have enough time for this. Dr. Martha Beck has a system she calls the 4 Day Win. Take your goal and break it down into turtle steps. Designate a half-hour each day for 4 days to work on accomplishing the task. When you complete the task, reward yourself with something fun. Then move onto the next set of turtle steps and repeat the process. You’ll notice you’re getting more done and having more fun. Many people miss the importance of taking small steps. I know I did. But when you slow down and take it one step at a time, you really do win the race.
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