Is One Step at a Time an Overused Cliche?

One step at a time …

We’ve probably all said and heard that line many times. So many times we might hate the line and what it means. But the truth is … it is the freakin’ truth.

Most, if not all, things in life are done one step at a time.

Literally …. from learning to walk as a toddler to running on the playground to running a marathon to walking to the medicine cabinet for the Bengay when in your nineties.

Figuratively … from learning to read to earning a degree to starting a business to recovering from injuries to writing a book to waiting on an email for five months or for five minutes.

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One step at a time …

Going from lying in a hospital bed 3,000 miles from home wondering if I’ll ever walk again to running a successful half marathon didn’t happen overnight or in spontaneous bursts of magical energy or healing. It took six years of blood, sweat and tears and thousands of steps … one at a time.

One wise decision after another …

When my husband and I started a business in the nineties, we were often told that it usually takes about five or six years for a new business to earn any profit. We’d nod and agree … then later talk about it how that might be true for many, but we’ll be different. Trust me … they were right! And we paid dearly for not making wise decisions at first.

One word at a time …

When I decided to write a memoir … I thought I could finish it in less than a year. Then I was hit with the obvious truth that writing a book takes longer and is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. And it would take closer to five years than one.

One day at a time …

I’m not real good at relationships (that might be the understatement of the year) I have learned a lot, but I have so much more to learn. One thing I’ve learned is that perfection in a relationship is an illusion and I can’t control others. My responsibility is to love others as I love myself (some wise guy said that)

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But the cool thing is …  if you take one step at a time amazing things can happen. I have crossed the finish line at a few races. I have finished a book and am entertaining ideas about the second one. (am I nuts!) I have family and friends that like to hang out with me.

And you can do the same. Finish the degree. Lose the weight. Start the business. Run 1 mile. Run 26 miles. Raise a child. Pursue a dream. Grow vegetables. Organize the office.

Seriously … try it.

One step at a time rocks!

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What can you do today to take one step towards something you desire?