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One Step at A Time

Ever heard of the old adage about regular people looking for perfect jobs and successful people creating them for themselves? You might have (it's an unofficial motto at Harvard University), but what you might not have considered are the steps needed to start moving towards creating your own career, being your own boss and potentially flourishing under your own rules.

We're told from a young age how to make it in the world and we tend to design some sort of plan around the information we are given, which (and this shouldn't surprise you) usually changes. Despite that, we continue to save money Markets evolve, economies fail and people grow. There are rarely instances when we can plan for the future using information in the present, so what do we do?

Rather than imagining a perfect job, some imagined place in the always shifting sky, we only need to find some kind of desire to follow. Are you a people person? Do you enjoy any particular field? If you could freeze time and get all the immediate satisfactions out of the way (TV, games, etc.), what would you do? If you had reached your fill of being entertained, what do you think you would do? Write? Garden? Cook?

Consider the idea of wanting something. Most of us want to be successful or healthy, but what exactly does that mean? There are two ways people go about wanting something and our ambitions usually pan out in the following years, when life derails our delicately woven plans. The kind of people that want to have that perfect job usually want it for the money, the low stress, the smiling family, the pride and everything else that comes with it. Rarely do we focus on 'how' to get there.

If you wanted to talk to somebody about their unhealthy eating habits, which do you think would be more effective:

  • Show them a video of all the dangers of being obese, with all the health risks and psychological factors that come into play, or...

  • Show them a video of how they could eat less, move more, substitute one snack with a healthier alternative, etc.

My guess is the latter, it's not a scare tactic and by showing them the dangers of an activity without a way out, you're most likely going to put them on the defensive. But, giving them small choices to make and letting them know that the transition to their goal of being healthier takes place slowly, day by day, you're going to encourage them to make small changes in habit, a much more manageable task.

When I was younger, I wanted to write a book, but by trying to write the first chapter in a way that complemented what I thought the last would be, I was harming myself because I didn't consider the idea that new ideas for my book would sprout up along the way. Those ideas changed the ending and I would go back to the beginning and try to redirect the story. It was exhausting, frustrating and I ultimately gave up the whole thing.

Over the last few years, I began to do things without an end goal, this page included. I have no large plan for it but it's changed my thoughts about large dreams entirely by helping me understand that if I do a little bit every day, all of those little actions are going to start adding up over the years. I found a direction. The same goes with advanced your education, opening up a business, learning a new hobby, whatever. Do a little bit, a lot.

I want something down the road and I'm not sure what it is exactly, but I'm on my way and if you leave this page to a website on starting a small home garden, getting that degree or opening up a restaurant, you've begun to understand how you can get something instead of merely why you want it. You'll be farther along than most and moving in a direction that will ultimately bring your goals, whatever they might be, to you.

- Brandon S. Heal

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