The Headlight Principle
A follower of the Take The Stairs World Tour named James recently posed a great question. He asked, “How do you balance the importance of having long term vision with taking short term action?” A brilliant question.
If you don’t have vision – that’s a problem. Yet, it seems like most of us have (or at some point have had) a vision about what we want for our lives. But often a breakdown occurs in the very beginning because some of our visions are so grand (a great thing) that we cannot see the details of exactly how it could ever possibly come true because it’s so big so we never get started (a bad thing). To some, it might seem rational that there is no point beginning something when you can’t clearly see all of the steps of how it would be completed. The problem with that approach is that it’s the equivalent of taking a road trip across country and waiting to leave your driveway until all the stoplights are green!
All lights being green will likely never happen, and you will most definitely never even get started. Instead you’ll want to understand and apply The Headlight Principle. Headlights serve as a great metaphor because when you’re driving in the dark on your road trip towards your destination it is your headlights that keep you focused on the 10-15 feet right in front of you.
The same is true in your life. While it is critical to know where you’re trying to get to, making progress more often comes down to focusing on the next step that is directly in front of you. One of my favorite things to tell people is:
Spend time THINKING about your wildest and most distant dreams
but ACTING on your most immediate and present opportunities.
In other words there will never be a perfect time, you may not be able to see every step you need to take from where you’re at, but don’t let that stop you from taking the one immediate step that is right in front of you. What you always find is that once you take the step right in front of you, the next one becomes clearer, and the next, and the next. Just like the next piece of road becomes more visible in your headlights as you move incrementally forward.
Somewhere in your life or business you have a major vision. Don’t be overwhelmed by the massiveness of the goal but instead just take the 1 clear step immediately in front of you and watch as the rest become clearer. It’s one more reason why everyday is an important first step to “take the stairs.”
On the road to your dream what is your next step? (you can post it here)
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See you in the stairwell,
Rory Vaden
Take the stairs – Success means doing what others won’t.
Tags: business speaker, Motivational Speaker, motivational speaker rory vaden, performance expert, Rory Vaden, sales performance, Self-Discipline, Take The Stairs, take the stairs world tour, the headlight principle, World Champion of Public Speaking
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June 25, 2009 at 12:08 am
Rory i am so proud of you. i always knew you would become someone who talked to crowds. allthough i thought you would be in sports! keep it up kid, im proud to be your cousin!!