If you can’t get started on a project or are stuck somewhere along the way, baby steps to success can be your salvation.  Taking baby steps can help you move forward when nothing else can.

A baby step is something that is so small and easy that you almost don’t feel like you’re doing anything at all.

Why does taking a baby step work?

We get stuck for all sorts of reasons that, whether we realize it or not, generally boil down to having an uncomfortable emotion.  We’re afraid, overwhelmed, intimidated, uncomfortable, or insecure.

Baby steps help us get through all that because a baby step is so small and easy that it doesn’t trigger fear or discomfort.  A well-designed baby step is easy for you, where you are right now.  It’s something that you can do effortlessly.  It’s just a teeny-tiny step from where you are.  It’s simple, discrete, and not intimidating.

Designing baby steps

Designing a good baby step is all about respecting yourself and how you feel.  You want the baby step to be a very small, very easy step from where you are right now.  It doesn’t matter if you think something should be easy. If it’s not actually easy for you, it’s not a baby step.

The big rule of baby steps

If something seems hard, overwhelming, emotionally difficult, or uncomfortable in any way — even a little bit — you haven’t broken it down into a small enough step.

You want the action to be absolutely no big deal. Itsy-bitsy. Trivial. You want it to be as easy as taking a stack of blank envelopes out of your desk drawer and putting them on your desk.

Anything counts as a baby step, including prep work, setting intentions, and just looking at what you need to do

A baby step does not have to involve action.  People have used baby steps to success by doing things like visualizing themselves succeeding at a task, setting intentions, or doing Internet research.

Question:  Taking baby steps seems stupid. How can a person get anywhere taking tiny steps like that?

First of all, slow and steady wins the race.

Taking small actions consistently can give you powerful results in not too long a time  Maybe you won’t get miracle results in a week or thirty days, but you’ll probably see substantial progress in six months, even if the steps you’re taking seem small and inconsequential.  They add up over time. And because you’re taking steps that are easy for you, you’ll be able to sustain your activity over those six months.

Secondly, once you get some momentum going with baby steps, your natural enthusiasm often fires up and the pace picks up.

This is a healthy, sustainable way to approach things.  Start in an slow, easy, gentle way, and naturally evolve to a faster pace.

Thirdly, baby steps are infinitely more than doing nothing.

People often turn to baby steps when they’re stuck, when they’re not doing anything.  They’re scared, overwhelmed, freaked out, bored, or otherwise blocked.  So taking baby steps is actually an improvement on their current pace.  It’s infinitely more than the nothing they’re currently doing.

I encourage you to give baby steps a try

Taking baby steps is one of the best ways to move forward when you’re stuck.  Baby steps help you avoid the stress and struggle of trying to force yourself to do something you’re not comfortable doing.

The baby steps to success approach is gentle and easy. It’s deeply respectful of you and highly effective.

I encourage you to give it a try.