I can’t do ten chin-ups. I can’t do five. I can’t even do three.
But I can do one. Two in fact.
How do I know? I saw a guy do twenty or so at my gym this week. So I gamely took a try right after. I did one. And fell. To my knees.
Pathetic? Yes. Discouraged? Slightly. Resolved? Absolutely!
Fiercely resolved, that I am going to get to ten some day. One at a time.
So that was day one, chin-up one. The second day I tried, I did two. Today at the gym I am aiming for…..you guessed it! Un, deux, trois!!!
One at a time. It’s a new lesson this old cat is remembering about life. When surrounded by problems at work or in any situation, you can’t solve everything at once. Where do you start? Well make a list and then start with #1. Know where the list stops, “begin with the end in mind”, Steven Covey reminds us. But don’t take on the entire list all at once.
Every day in my company I have a little number in my head. It’s how much I hope we “sell” that day. I don’t share that number with anyone. But I know. It’s my one chin-up. If I worry too much about tomorrow’s number or next Tuesday’s, I flounder. My day becomes a complete disarray.
So keep life simple. You can’t do two chin-ups, until you have done one.