Monday, January 14, 2008

Taking the first step

Taking the first step is the most important, and most difficult, thing to do. Think about that for a minute. Really think about it. For many of us we talk about it, we talk about going on a diet, we talking about exercising, we talk about spending more time with our kids, we talk about getting a better job, we talk about being a better spouse or parent, we talk about being a better friend, we talk about volunteering more, we talk about whatever it is we think we should do. But that's the point, for so many people that's as far as it ever gets- talk.

Taking the first step means moving past the talk and starting to "walk the walk." It means actually moving towards your goal (more on goal-setting next time) and committing yourself to a path. Think about those historic figures who took their first step. If Martin Luther King Jr. doesn't take his first step in the fight against segregation where are we today? If Abraham Lincoln doesn't take his first step towards preserving the union then most likely today I live in the Confederate States of America instead of the greatest nation on the face of the planet (I'm biased). If [insert your profound statement here] then [how bad could it be?]. History is littered with people who took the first step. They're the ones we learn about, the people who took the first steps, not the people who talked about them.

Taking the first step isn't the first step at all. But it is the hardest one. And the most important.


Leadership Quote of the Day- "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way." - John C. Maxwell