Quick Tip: Taking the First Step Towards Your Vision and Goals

When setting a goal or vision for the future, how do you establish this vision? In this Quick Tip Friday episode, Vincent shares his method for getting started towards building your future or a new habit. 

Show Notes & Transcript: http://vyten.us/high-first-steps 

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Transcript

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Hey my Friday’s, welcome to our Quick Tip Friday episode. This week just flew by… flew by. 

And there was data that came out from the Department of Labor this week showing that around 787,000 people filed for first time unemployment claims last week, which was the lowest level since March of this year. I mean that’s good news that the trend is going down as people are getting back to work and companies are slowing down on job reductions. But it’s still a big number… 787,000 people is still a nearly a million people who filed for unemployment for the first time last week.

All this week, if you and I have been texting back and forth this week, we’ve been talking about “I will”. I will has been our theme this week.

And it’s been all about taking the first step. Taking the first step. You know, in life, the way to move forward, the way to move up. It doesn’t happen by accident. No one runs a marathon by accident. No one pays off all their debt by accident. No buys their first home by accident.

In all of these instances, you have to set your Vision for what your future looks like. Which by the way, if you’re familiar with our Vyten Method, that’s what the V stands for… Vision.

And when I say Vision, I’m not talking about a job title, I’m not talking about a salary. Those things are important, but your vision is different. What I’m talking about is when you think about your future, if you were to look at it through the lens of video camera, where would you be? Who would you be with? How would you feel?

Do you see yourself in running shoes, crossing the finish line at 26.2 miles. Do you see your partner cheering you on on the side of the road? Are you thinking about how good that ice water will taste as you’re stretching to cool down after that marathon with the weight of the medal around your neck? Is that what your vision is?

Or maybe it’s a change in your career. Maybe you’ve spent the past decade in hospitality, and now you want to transition into health care. Do you see yourself waking up in the morning, not being on your cell phone, but instead taking the time to make a cup of coffee as you read a chapter of your monthly book club’s latest book. Then after that, you’re putting on scrubs and walking into your new workplace… the clinic or hospital after finishing your years of nursing school.

When you are setting your vision of the future, you have to be able to close your eyes and see the image, see the vision of where you’re going. Who you’re with, who you’re not with. What do you hear? What do you see? What do you smell? How do you feel?

This is purpose. This is vision.

Next is building your plan, and specifically focusing on the next 12 months. Your next year. The Y in Vyten stands for Year.

What do you have to accomplish this year to move towards your vision.

But this week, in my “I will” series, we’ve been breaking it down to an even smaller step. The first step. The baby step.

Because this one is often the hardest to take. There’s a lot of reasons why people don’t take the first step.

But if you never take the first step, you have a 0% chance of achieving the last step.

Some of the reasons why someone might not take the first step is…

#1, they’re waiting for the right time. They’re waiting for the situation to be perfect. But the truth is that time will never come. It’ll never feel like the perfect time.

In the past, when I wanted to pay off thousands of dollars of student loans, at first I said that I’d make more than the minimum payment after I had a good job. Then I said, well, I need to save up for deposit for a new apartment, so I’d wait until after I moved. But then when I moved, I said I have to get new furniture, so I’ll be more aggressive with my payments after I get the new furniture. Do you see where I’m going with this? There’s always something else that made it not the right time.

#2, you might be waiting until other people agree with you. But just like you shouldn’t wait for the timing to be perfect, you can’t wait until everyone agrees with your idea. There will always be opposition, and that’s normal. That’s okay, but if you wait until everyone agrees with you, you’ll likely never start.

And #3, lastly, you might not start because you’re afraid of failing. And I think this one is the hardest to overcome. You might be thinking, what will other people think if I fail? You might be thinking, what will I think of myself if I fail? Will that prove that I’m not good enough?

Here’s the thing though…. you have nothing to lose. If you don’t start, then you won’t succeed. And if you do start, and you fail, then you still won’t succeed. The outcome is the same. So you really have nothing to lose by starting.

But… the upside is you have everything to gain. What if you do succeed? What if you can accomplish your goals or build a new habit in your life? How would that change your life? How would that make you feel? How would that transform your future?

I’ve always wanted to finish a marathon. It’s been a backlist goal for me for a while. And this year, I registered for the St. Jude Rock & Roll marathon in Nashville, but the pandemic happened, and the marathon was delayed. So right now, it’s deferred until Spring of next year.

What I shared with you before really is my vision. And in my head, I can see myself with my vision. And I can visualize what the end of the journey looks like.

But signing up for a marathon is a daunting. And this accomplishment will take me over a year to do. It’s important to break down this year-long journey into manageable steps.

Step one, find a running shoe store in my city. Step two, go get new shoes. Step 3, run a quarter mile in those new shoes.

Those were my first baby steps towards completing the marathon. If I didn’t take those steps, it would be impossible for me to complete my goal.

So my question for you. My challenge to you is… what is your vision? What do you want to accomplish in the future? And what’s your baby step?

I will run a quarter mile in my new shoes so that I can work towards my goal of completing a marathon.

I will… do blank so that I can work towards blank.

What will you do?

Wherever you’re watching this, scroll down and leave me a comment. I can’t wait to hear from you.

That’s all for now. Let’s go get them.