Lauren van Vliet, author

I generally enjoy articles and podcasts about productivity and goal setting, especially related to writing. And the one piece of advice I hear in almost every one is: in order to achieve your goal you need to show up and do something. Regardless of whether the purpose of the article or podcast is to teach a method for goal setting, or how to create a habit, it doesn’t matter how many steps there are in the plan, or what the push goal is, at some point you need to show up and do it.

For me today, that’s sitting in front of the keyboard, writing, and hitting ‘publish’ (regardless of what my inner critic is saying). But it will look different for everyone. In my ministry it could be wading into a new project or event with baby steps. It could be as big as jumping into a new adventure with reckless abandon, or as small as reaching out to one new person.

But whatever it is, you and I need to do it. Take a step, even a little one, in the right direction.

Sometimes those little steps seem huge, and it’s only in hindsight that you realize how small it was. But each step, no matter how big or small, is a step. Slowly but surely, one step after another, you are moving forward. Before you know it you’re running.

So here’s my baby step for today: finally pressing ‘publish’ on a post, rather than leaving it to rot in the Drafts folder because my inner critic doesn’t like. Because I can’t write and publish 105 pieces this year without writing and publishing the first one.

What’s your baby step for today? Go, take it.