This past week, I delivered a presentation at the American Family Insurance Dreambank in Madison, WI. The presentation, titled Kaizen to Creation, was all about reaching your dreams through taking a series of tens, hundreds, thousands, etc. of TINY steps, one step at a time. This idea of “one small step at a time” is the basis of kaizen, a Japanese philosophy for living. Creating a life by design and not by default is accomplished best through small steps, patience, and perseverance. As coaches, we know this. So, here’s where the turtles come in.
During the presentation, I took the participants on a journey to meet themselves–15 years in the future. As a coach, you’ve probably done some version of this “Future Self” exercise yourself at some point, and you understand what a profoundly moving and inspiring experience it is. After the group completed the exercise, I debriefed with them by asking them to share their profound experience, make a comment about what moved them, or acknowledge what surprised and/or intrigued them about what they saw. One audience member shared this:
Your presentation and this exercise reminded me of something. I am a big believer in taking small steps to accomplish big goals, just like you say. During my life, I’ve always referred to these small steps as “turtle steps.” Only when I take turtle steps do I really get anywhere. Thank you for reminding me of that.
Turtles are smart.
They go slowly.
They take it one step (leg) at a time.
They are incredibly patient.
They don’t let their shells get all weighty (kinda like how we get our panties in a bunch).
They persevere…and they get where they need to go every time.
In business, as coaches, we need to remind ourselves that our big ideas, projects, etc. can be and are accomplished through a series of tiny, kaizen, turtle steps. Don’t let the overwhelm of the slow pace of things derail you. Just KEEP GOING, one small kaizen-tiny-turtle step at at time. You’ll get there.
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