Step One
To start, you have to begin.
Laozi, known in the West as Lao Tzu, is considered one of the legendary philosophers of ancient China. He authored the Tao Te Ching, a foundational text of what became Taoism, and is revered as an honorable ancestor of the Tang Dynasty. His Chinese name translates as “Old Master.”
Lao Tzu was a man of brilliant insights, and many of his observations, quips, and quotes are spoken even today. Perhaps one of my favorite Lao Tzu quotes is this one:
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the
great things while they are small. A journey of a
thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
Whether we’re going across the room or around the world, each journey, each trek, each adventure we take all start with one thing in common.
Step One.
Every journey has a starting point, a beginning.
But to start any journey, you have to begin.
The problem for far too many people is they dream of tomorrow, but that’s all they ever do. They wish and hope that they can visit some place, do some thing, or become someone, but that’s all they ever do.
To start, you have to begin.
Step One.
I watched Bruce Lee in the TV Series, The Green Hornet, growing up. I wanted to be Kato. I watched David Carradine in the TV Series, Kung Fu, and I wanted to b Kwi Chang Caine. But until I set foot in a Dojo, and began to learn martial arts, it was nothing more than a dream or a wish.
I had to begin to get started.
Step One.
Thomas Edison is considered perhaps one of the greatest inventors in human history. His ability to envision what at the time were futuristic inventions rivaled that of Renaissance artist, sculptor, and inventor, Leonardo Da Vinci. Both men were extraordinary visionaries.
One day as Edison peered through his laboratory window, he paused to observe a flickering gas lamp on the street outside. He was already tinkering with electricity and a brilliant idea came to his thoughts. It was a vision of a world illuminated not by the flicker of a flame but the steady brilliance of an electric light.
Edison could have stopped there. He could have made all the excuses why this idea was crazy, impossible, and beyond the scope of current technology. But he didn’t. Edison began to think on the idea, allowing it to expand in his mind, but as he considered the possibilities, he did something else that most people don’t.
He began to devise a series of steps to get there…and he acted on them.
Edison embarked on a tireless journey, a thousand miles of experimentation. Countless hours were spent testing materials, refining designs, and working through thousands of failed attempts before he finally achieved success. After countless failed experiments, Edison finally witnessed his laboratory being illuminated by the soft glow of a reliable, long-lasting electric light.
Edison had taken the first, critical step. He began.
Step One.
Each failure revealed what didn’t work so he could continue to experiment until he discovered what did. With the flick of a switch, Edison transformed the world. His invention spread like wildfire and today we think nothing of flipping a switch and lighting up our home or office.
But Edison’s journey didn’t stop there.
The journey of a thousand miles reveals a lot of unexpected surprises along the way.
Edison went on to develop the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the copy machine, along with other groundbreaking inventions that forever shaped the course of history. His first step toward a world of electric lights went on to transform how we live and enjoy life today.
Fast forward to today and you still see ordinary individuals who are doing extraordinary things because they were willing to begin the journey of a thousand miles by taking that first scary, uncomfortable step into the unknown.
Consider Elon Musk.
Elon envisioned a future where mankind extended its reach beyond the confines of Earth. He joined countless visionaries of the past, such as Jules Verne, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and C.S. Lewis, who envisioned mankind as a multi-planetary species. But Elon went beyond just fictionalizing tales of men living among the stars and set out to create the technologies necessary to make this a reality for humanity.
Space X was born.
Step One.
Musk faced countless obstacles, numerous setbacks, and relenting challenges along the way. Like Edison, Musk learned from his failures and kept pushing forward. Space X became the first privately-funded spacecraft to reach Earth’s orbit and now they are exploring the vast reaches of the planet Mars.
Elon’s journey of a thousand miles has revealed many other opportunities beyond Space X, including Tesla, Twitter (now X), Starlink, Neuralink, and xAI. Had he not started with his first scary, uncomfortable step into the unknown, he would not be where he is today.
What journey are you continually dreaming of that you’ve yet to embark on?
What is holding you back from taking that scary, uncomfortable first step?
To start, you have to begin.
Step One.
We were designed to learn, grow, improve, expand, and enlarge our reach and influence. But sadly, few people heed the timeless wisdom of Lau Tzu:
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the
great things while they are small. A journey of a
thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
We procrastinate, put things off, and neglect doing what we know needs to be done. We make excuses because accepting the lie is easier than doing what is necessary and required. We fail to do the difficult things while they are easy, and the great things while they are small.
We rationalize and justify. We overlook and ignore what we know needs to be done to move us from where we are to where we’ve always dreamed of going. We dream of visiting faraway places, yet we seldom venture more than a few miles from our homes. We see other successful people, and fantasize that we too could be just like them…but we never pick up the book, enroll in the course, participate in the retreat, or attend the conference that could start us on the journey to discovering, developing, and deploying our own, unique Black Belt Leader Within and become a World-Class Master of Who We Are and What We Do.
Lao Tzu has something to say about that as well:
“When I let go of who I am, I become what I might be.”
Nothing changes until something changes.
You’ve got to let go of the version of yourself you are today in order to become a better version of yourself tomorrow. Success doesn’t happen by accident. It is the result of an intentional, purposeful effort to say, do, and become more than you are today.
“Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the
great things while they are small. A journey of a
thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
Remember, successful people do daily what unsuccessful people do sometimes, or not at all.
So, what will you let go of today to become what you can be tomorrow?
What difficult thing will you do today while it is easy?
What small thing will you start today that can become a great thing over time?
To start, you have to begin.
What is your Step One?
Really enjoyed reading this. Yes. You must do it. There has to be a point when you stop thinking and planning and you take action.
I count myself lucky to be an introvert. I’ve never felt the need to wait for others to come along with me to get started. And I’m grateful for that