For the purposes of this post, I want to explore the idea of setting goals and making progress towards their attainment. After the last 7 days, I realized that almost any goal tends to be a combination of baby steps and giant leaps. In fact baby steps are designed to get you ready for taking giant leaps.
In an earlier post I mentioned how one small adjustment can make a big difference. Each adjustment that you make is really nothing more than a baby step. As luck would have it, this had turned out to be my last week of 6 hour a day marathon surfing sessions, thanks to the fact that one of the 25 things I’ve accomplished while being unemployed was getting a job. This week it seems that 6 months of baby steps, small adjustments and much more lead me to my own giant leaps in my surfing abilities. However, there were still plenty of baby steps going on that were making a huge difference. One friend gave me a simple adjustment to my paddling technique that made it possible for me to get back out to the waves much faster after riding one to shore. The point I’m trying to make is that in order to take giant leaps, you have to take baby steps first.
Perfecting Baby Steps
If you go through any personal development program one of things all the gurus talk about no matter what skill you are trying to learn, it’s that you have you should become a master of the fundamentals. The better you are at the fundamentals, the larger your giant leaps will be.
Giant Leaps:
Giant leaps are the funnest part of accomplishing any goal. Giant leaps are the culmination of all the effort your put into your baby steps, and so every giant leap will be an effortless endeavor.
Don’ t forget however that after every giant leap, you need to return to the baby steps in order to make your next giant leap.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It goes with the saying: great things start from small beginning. Truly, whatever it is we want to achive in life, it is imperative that we take it in small chunks so that we can master its every aspect. Once perfected, giant leaps are inevitbly natural.
I have been practicing your principle in my blogging endeeavor.
Hi Srinivas.
You are right about baby steps. I hit a wall when I try to take some huge step, but I’ve never gotten stuck when I focused on baby steps. The giant leaps then come after so many of those steps.
The fundamentals sure are key. Once you have those in place, anything else is easier. I see some folks who worked on the fundamentals in an activity for a long period of time, and now they are unstoppable, while those who disregarded the fundamentals are now slowed down a fair amount because of a weaker foundation.
Valid message.
I agree with you. Fundamentals are the key in every area (sport, work, family). Sure, it’ll take time to master, but as Armen says, once you master them, you are unstoppable.