The Next Step

I recently attended a conference where one of the speakers referenced the phrase, "A long obedience in the same direction." This quote is first attributed to the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, but was also picked up by an author in the Christian tradition, Eugene Peterson, who wrote a book he titled with that exact phrase. Of course, many of us may know this idea better from the more modern philosopher, Dore' in Finding Nemo, who said, "Just keep swimming!"

No matter which philosopher you choose, the principle this is trying to teach and the point the speaker at my conference was trying to make is the same - perseverance makes a big impact on our lives.  Our ability to continue to keep taking small, incremental steps in the same direction is what will eventually help us accomplish what might seem like unattainable and even very distant goals. It can become even more challenging when we think about it in terms of the total distance or the larger objective, because it's hard to see how we are going to get there. But, if we can remember that the whole journey is made up of many small, Next Steps, it will help us to just keep swimming!

New fact about my life - my dad was a part of the team that invented the round baler system - you know all those round bales that you see in the fields?  I don't think I really appreciated the significance of that work and his accomplishment when I was a teenager. It's just what my dad did - worked on balers. Boring! But as an adult I have a different perspective on the amount of work, invention, and problem solving that went into that project. In reflection, I can see that he didn't wake up one day with the whole idea and design completely worked out in his head.  He had the seed of an idea and then just started working toward it, one step at a time, solving one problem at a time, tackling the next part of the design they needed that eventually allowed them to complete the entire project. It took years, and it happened by taking each Next Step as it came.

What are you facing in your personal life or in your leadership life that feels like a monumental task? How could you apply this approach of just taking the very Next Step to that situation? Perhaps you're so focused on the whole thing that it's preventing you from even being able to see the Next Step? How could you adjust your focus, so you shifted your attention to looking for just the Next Step, not the whole thing?  When you can see the Next Step, what will it take to lean in and just take it?

Here's to taking the Next Step this week!

Be Well,

Stephen

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