Inspiration – Getting Started

 Inspiration –  Getting Started

By Nikki Viljoen of Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd  

Mark Twain says “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.  The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.”

The story of “How to eat an elephant” and its subsequent answer of “one bite at a time” springs to mind and it is exactly how you get ahead.

No matter how big the dream, you have to break it down into small ‘bite sized’ chunks.  Same with any problems and challenges that you have, no matter how big or unmanageable it may seem, break it down. Once it’s broken down, choose a ‘bite sized’ chunk and deal with it.  Make it your goal, to not even look at the other pieces until you have dealt with and resolved that particular one.  Write all your ‘bite sized’ pieces down and as you deal with each one, mark it off – that way you will be able to see and even measure your progress and as each one is marked off, you will find yourself feeling lighter and more optimistic and less stressed about what it is that you still have to achieve.

I know that we often get caught up in the emotion or the drama of the situation or the issue at hand.  Often the problem or the dream appears to be so large that it becomes overwhelming and often what happens then is that we become afraid of our own success.

Okay – that’s a biggie!  Let me say that again – we become afraid of our own success!

Crazy as that may sound or even as it may be on the surface, the reality for many of us is that as soon as we realize the magnitude of the dream or the potential, we back off in fear of success.  Statements like ‘this is too big for me’ or ‘It can’t be this easy or someone else would have done/thought of it before’ rattle around in our heads and the magnificent size and breath taking magnitude of the dream or opportunity, literally knocks the wind out of our sails.

Step away from the dream, take a big breath, break it down and systematically work with and deal with each piece, one at a time.  Yes, look up from time to time to keep your eye on the ultimate prize, don’t be scared to look at it, but deal with it, slowly and surely and just ‘one bite at a time’.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za