The other day, I wanted to go for a walk. It was chilly, so I thought I’d wait till the afternoon when the sun warmed up the air a bit. But then my hamstring was bothering me, and it was so cozy in the house. Plus, I had a lot of work to do, so I had to push it off. I had excuses, excuses, excuses.

Then a thought came to me. Just take five steps.

That wasn’t such a big deal. It was five steps. I didn’t have to think about the walk or how it would feel outside; I only had to focus on taking five measly steps. So, I got up from my desk, took that advice, and only thought about five steps. I got dressed and went for a walk. After the five steps, the rest was easy. It was getting myself to move that was the hard part.

For all those things we don’t want to do  – start by breaking down the action into five steps.

If you don’t want to walk the dog because it’s too cold out, think about taking five steps with the dog. Just five. That’s all. Before you know it, you’re out the door breathing in the chilly air.

This can work with all kinds of tasks we don’t want to do. If you have a project that’s been hanging around for a while and you don’t have the desire to work on it, find a few minutes and take five steps toward working on it. Before you know it, you’re finishing it because all you needed was the push to get started.

Starting is often the most challenging part of anything. Our minds trick us into thinking it’ll be too difficult, or we get fearful or worried about it. Before we knew it, the time had passed, and we had done nothing. It’s happened a lot for me. I’d talk myself out of things I was afraid of or that I thought would cause me discomfort. Half the time, I didn’t actually have a thought; I just procrastinated and did something else to be able to justify the time spent.

Now, the idea of taking only five steps is a game-changer for me. I don’t have to get anxious or worry about anything because the five steps aren’t threatening at all. It’s just five steps.

Coming up with this five-step idea is genius for me. I tend to look at the long game instead of the present moment. Thinking that I’m only going to take five steps is doable, and once I get moving, I keep moving. All it took was five steps.

Before we complain, we have something to do; let’s take five steps to do it.

When we move, we have no problem continuing to move. It’s taking the first steps that makes all the difference in the world.

We could say, “I’m hungry, but I don’t want to make anything; I’m too tired.” Using this five-step idea, just take five steps toward the kitchen. Once you get in the kitchen, inspiration will hit you and before you know it, you’re taking something out of the fridge and getting to work. It wasn’t such a big deal after all.

A few years ago, I learned about Mel Robbins and her book The Five Second Rule. I read it, but it didn’t motivate me to change my procrastinating ways. I got the gist that all you have to think is 5-4-3-2-1, and bam, you’re doing what you want to do. However, even though I was intrigued by that concept, I didn’t put it into practice. I was in a different mind space back then, but still, even today, that doesn’t work for me. It gives me anxiety like I’m counting down for a rocket to launch.

The idea of taking only five steps takes the pressure off us. Think about it. Say we want to stop doing something that we know isn’t good for us. For me, this taking five steps thing helps me to be in the present moment, and that’s where we have power. We can do anything when we just take five steps. Take five steps away from the refrigerator instead of eating more. Take five steps away from your favorite smoking spot. Take five steps out of the store before you buy something you don’t need. You get the picture.

Try it. It’s so simple and so non-threatening. I like stuff like that. I’m a girl who loves comfort, and we all know that comfort isn’t always the best for us. Taking five steps gets us moving toward the things we want to do or takes us away from something we shouldn’t be doing.

Thank you for reading this. I hope this idea inspires you to do something good for yourself. I’d love to know in the comments if you’d try this.

To taking five steps,

Francesca

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