You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step

 

This saying very much sums up my existence. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so before beginning a new project, I like to have everything planned out very well. I began preparing when my wife first made hints that she intended to have children.

She continued to hint years later, and I finally understood that this was a circumstance for which there is simply no way to be fully prepared. My wife was very thrilled when I understood this, to put it mildly.

This quote surely applied even if it wasn't in my head at the time. I was aware of the first stair and that there were more stairs to climb. Since then, I've been moving forward but can only see a step or two in front of me. Nevertheless, I have trust that the stairs are there.

In the previous section, I provided two illustrations of additional stairways that may be used to ascend one step at a time. What other aspects of your life can benefit from a little faith in moving forward? A nice example may be starting a blog and writing one post at a time?

Grab some paper, and list a few projects you have been reluctant to begin because you don't have confidence in your capacity to see the full staircase, or even that you can. Consider all the roles and facets of our lives, such as work, relationships, family, etc.

Write down the first step (or two, if you can see that far up the staircase) or the action that goes along with each item on your list. How challenging was that? It shouldn't be too difficult, if you have trust, as long as you know where the staircase leads and where the first step is.

Choose a staircase, and get ready to ascend. Take a look at the entry you made for the first rung of this staircase. Are there any sub-steps inside that step, or are there any preliminary steps you need to take? Think about that for a moment, then jot down any ideas that come to mind.

The last two steps are to complete the research you need to do (assuming there are things you think you should know before going up the staircase) and to actually take that first step now that you know what you're doing and have a sense of the steps involved.

Once you've completed the first step, feel free to repeat the procedure as many times as necessary on paper to gain familiarity with the procedure. You'll eventually just do things since they'll have become a natural part of who you are and how you behave.

Occasionally, things will go wrong. You'll stumble, and you might even drop. But if you have faith in yourself, faith that a staircase exists, and faith that another stair will follow, you will succeed. Furthermore, isn't the journey itself half the fun?