How to ‘just do it’? No wonder the Nike slogan has been so powerful, we can all relate to that time when we wanted to ‘do just do it’ and something held us back.
We usually sit down and get specific. We pull the whole thing back centre stage and dissect it into more manageable bits:
- What do you want to start with first?
- How important is it to you that you do it?
- How are you going to do it?
- When are you going to do it?
- What might be lurking around the corner to derail it?
- How can you avoid that?
- What help do you need from me?
We then go on to write it down and I follow up with the player to see how he/she is managing their own next steps. Usually the process of breaking it down into small, more manageable, ‘bites’ makes it easier for the player to ‘just get started.’ To quote Lao Tzu: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Last week I came across a posting on one of my favourite sites, Anecdote, that also offers suggestions for just getting started......
Kevin Bishop of Anecdote posts a book review on Dr. Robert Maurer’s book One Small Step Can Change Your Life. Dr. Maurer is an Associate Clinical Professor at the ULCA School of Medicine, and an expert in Kaizen, the Japanese technique of achieving lasting success through a series of small, steady steps.
Maurer argues that all changes, even positive ones, are scary. Attempts to meet goals through radical or revolutionary means often fail because they heighten fear. But the small steps of kaizen disarm the brain's fear response, stimulating rational thought and creative play.
In this book he lays out six strategies which underpin Kaizen and applies them to everything from overspending, beginning an exercise program, managing stress, to keeping the house clean.
The six strategies are:
1. Asking small questions to dispel fear and inspire creativity
Maurer argues your brain loves questions, so use this to shape behaviour. So instead of writing down all the things you should be doing to improve your health, ask yourself small questions like: "what is one way I can remind myself to drink more water today?" and let the brain come up with, and implement the answers. He uses the example of Michael Ondaatje, the author of the English Patient, who says he doesn't start by asking; "What kind of characters would be fascinating to readers?" Instead he takes an incident, say a plane crash, and asks himself a few very small questions, such as "Who is the man in the plane?". "Why did the plane crash?". "What year is this?" The answers to these very small questions lead him to create his rich, emotive and ultimately prize-winning novels.
2. Thinking small thoughts to develop new skills and habits
Maurer believes that this philosophy is enhanced by "mind sculpture," a concept developed by Professor Ian Robertson and outlined in his book Mind Sculpture: Unlocking Your Brain's Untapped Potential . Mind sculpture is a kind of guided imagery designed to train the brain in small increments to develop new social, mental, and even physical skills, just by imagining yourself performing them.
3. Taking small actions that guarantee success
This is all about empowering yourself with simple small steps to start the change process. He uses plenty of examples including the following:
Get more sleep. Go to bed 1 minute earlier at night, or stay in bed 1 minute longer in the morning.
4. Solving small problems, even when you are faced with an overwhelming crisis
When something happens that does not work properly, Maurer argues we should spend the time and energy right then to solve it before it produces unwanted results. "Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts." Tao Te Ching.
5. Bestowing small rewards to yourself or others to produce the best results
Maurer believes that small acts of recognition and small meaningful rewards are much more effective than bigger or more structured rewards.
6. Recognising the small but crucial moments
This is all about understanding that small things make a big difference, especially at crucial moments. He tells a fantastic story about Psychologist Dr John Gottman and his study with couples on the small acts that make a huge difference whether they stay together.
- 'Begin anywhere'.....find inspiration in this incomplete manifesto for growth.
- Watch the TED talk on trying something new for the first 30 days
- Excuses we make to ourselves - read Chris Brogan's blog
- And if you are interested in 'small changes' in organisations read the Management Innovation Exchange MIX exchange and the MIX manfesto
