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TURNING BABY STEPS INTO GIANT STRIDES

Arthur Ashe said something so profound: "Start Where You Are. Use What You Have. Do What You Can.”

Do you notice that he never said "stay where you are"?

Steps describe series of movements made from one foot to the other. It can also be used to describe the movement and attempts made to move from one status of accomplishment to another.

Strides means to walk with long steps, covering long distances. A stride is also a long, decisive walk or step in a given direction. Literally, making a stride means making significant progress towards a target goal.

Some facts here: A baby's feet measures about 3.5 inches and a giants foot measures roughly a 24 inches, that's almost 7 times. However no one becomes a man in a day (even giants don't become giants the day they were born).

While carefulness, fear and the consciousness of the immediate environment are things that characterizes baby steps, turning these steps into giant strides takes a lot of grit, mental and physical fortitude.

In turning baby steps to giant strides some things should be constant:

. Desire
. Persistence
. Fearlessness
. Focus

Consistent baby steps exposes us to many possibilities and opportunities to learn, to grow and to expand the horizon of our thinking agility such that the baby steps becomes long steps and then giant strides are made.

Arthur Ashe also said something worth putting out here: "You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or loosing."

Archbishop Benson Idahosa said this in one of his preaching "not taking a risk is risky" and I will also add that "a life lived in the comfort zone is too expensive for its occupant".

Do you have something you need to do that scares you, that's a pointer to the fact that it is something you should consider, break the fear, find out why it scares you, find out the reason for the fear...

In the realm of giant strides, one is not looking at whether it will result in failure or success but that it will result in a culmination of great values, virtues and knowledge garnered.

A single giant stride made is more than a lot of baby steps taken, but one cannot and should not neglect how the baby steps were instrumental to getting to the place of making significant progress is every facets of life.

Every step is a potential, a seed that can grow if watered rightly..

Ralph Waldo Emerson said something profound, it is: "the mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.", Once you get inquisitive to know the reasons for your fear it takes you into new horizons of learning and makes you see the possibilities you never imagine there are, break the box, there's more!

I'll give you practical steps to take that step:

1. Get accountable about your fears, and the things you wish to do including the time you want to get them done.
2. Identify a community of people who are in your phase of growth and grow together.
3. Cultivate the habit of strong positive daily affirmations, it does something to your subconscious mind.
4. Always review your progress with the person you are accountable to.
5. Do a self appraisal but not at the beginning of any tasks.
6. Don't be too critical about mistakes, don't sit there, mistakes happen. Own them,learn from them, grow from them and scale up with lessons learnt from them.
7. Seek opportunities to help others take the step you've taken, as helping others helps you too.

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Finally Arthur Ashe said: There's a syndrome in sport it is called "Paralysis by analysis.", You see this, this syndrome has killed so many potential, don't overanalyze your current progress, keep moving, keep showing up, and you'll see your baby steps gradually turn into giant strides.