Taking Baby Steps

I want to reflect on a lesson I learned from my one year old nephew. He recently started taking his first steps. He had been close for a while but he finally took 4 shuffles forward and fell into my grandma’s arms. Everyone erupted in joy for him, and when he had the chance to look up he was beaming with pride. He literally is taking baby steps. But there's more to it than that, and this is why it’s so special.

He’s still not walking, but he respects that there’s a process to reaching his ultimate goal. Imagine if he started crying after taking steps because he fell down… That would be such a disservice to his accomplishment and the progress he’s made to date. But instead he is satisfied with how things are right now, taking little baby steps, because what he’s capable of now. This is also his new training ground, his way of getting stronger and more confident, so that he can continue to improve and pursue walking on his own.

What we all have to learn from my nephew is that it’s important to achieve smaller milestones on your way to bigger goals. In fact they are worth celebrating because it’s an indicator that things are moving forward. Also remember that you need to start somewhere. Even if it’s just the most basic, most simple, not even useful version of what you ultimately want to do, it’s closer than you used to be, which should give you optimism that you can make it the rest of the way. 

Let’s wrap up by reflecting on this question - What are the baby steps to your bigger goals?

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