Today, while in the subway, I was thinking of a major challenge that I have faced along the way of my personal development

I had started taking salsa lessons in May 2007 and because I always went to the exclusive nightclubs in Toronto for my lessons, I always got to see the professional dancers at work.

They literally ruled the club with their deftness and before long I found myself wanting to be in their shoes.

Now, bear in mind that I have no experience in dancing. I do not know what having two left feet actually means but I am pretty darn sure I qualify.

So for me to set up a lofty goal of ruling a club with my moves is a pretty audacious one.

I became impatient and after a few weeks, when I saw that my end goal was nowhere in sight, I dropped practice, and my skills went back to zero.

I do not know if there is a technical name for this kind of syndrome, but I guess the gurus call it losing focus.

And when you think of it, I told myself, hell..How can it be losing focus, when I am thinking of the end result all the time?

No...Focusing on the end result is only a part of the big picture.

To reach there, you gotta focus on the immediate next step too.

The surefire way of being knocked off target goes like this:

Compare your present state with your end goal

See the vast difference

Fail to conceive of a plan to cover up the difference

Give up

It is a very common phenomenon especially in those areas where by the law of nature, progress is slow.

There is an old story (not that old) that I once heard which nicely describes this idea.

When you set out to drive from New York to Los Angeles in the night, the car headlights are never strong enough to light up the entire distance.

The only thing that is required to keep moving for the car is the next few yards; when it crosses that, the headlight shines on the next few yards.

And ultimately you arrive.

What we are talking about here is applying the same principle to your goal.

However, focusing on the next few yards can sound simple but it is rather difficult to do.

See, the very fact we started on the goal was the grand ending we vividly pictured in our mind: the perfect six pack, the perfect date, the perfect business or the perfect jaguar.

We don't want to focus on all the dirty nitty gritty details, the obstacles in the path. It doesn't feel good at all.

Where are you with your goals now?

Are you continuously deflating yourself by the mere thought of how far the end is and that you might never reach there?

Try this:

Look back for a second.

See how far you have come.

Now really squint your eyes and see the people that were once with you and made fun of you before the start of the journey.

See how they are looking at you with impressive eyes? Almost regretting that they didn't believe in you?

Feels like pride, doesn't it?

Now look forward.

But this time, don't look at the end, because it is still not visible.

Shine your headlights on the ground directly in front of you.

See?

Now take the next step.

Guess what? You came one step closer.

Any time you are feeling overwhelmed, this simple exercise will bring you back to your center and create a very solid reference point.

Bye for now. I gotta go work on my cross body leads.

Learn more about this author, Kaushik Guha.
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