You don’t have to see the whole path to take the first step

There’s a massive moment right before starting something anything new. Like an important project, a habit, a conversation, where it all feels perhaps too big.

Your brain starts listing everything you don’t know yet:

• What if I can’t follow through?

• What if I do it wrong?

• What if I start and then run out of steam?

For many of us (especially if we’re creative, neurodivergent, or used to high expectations) that’s the exact moment we often freeze. We wait until we feel more ready, more confident, more certain.

But the truth I find myself learning over and over and over is:
We don’t have to see the whole path to take the first step.

When I work with clients, I often see that clarity and confidence don’t show up before the first step. They show up because of it.

The first step doesn’t have to be perfect.
It doesn’t even have to be “the best” step.
It just has to be small enough to do right now.

It could be:

• Opening the document and writing one sentence.

• Setting a 10-minute timer to start a task you’ve been avoiding.

• Choosing one room, one drawer, one email to deal with today.

If the idea of “starting” feels overwhelming, ask yourself:

What is the smallest, easiest, most doable and most mundane next step?
Then do just that.

You don’t need the whole map. You just need the next turn.

With you in the tiny steps,
Cody

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.