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Rick Roberge

The First Step

This entry was posted on 6/5/2006 9:34 PM and is filed under uncategorized.

I subscribe to a service from www.justsell.com that sends a quote to my inbox every weekday. This was today’s.

"The distance isn't important; it is only the first step that is difficult."

Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, the Marquise du Deffand (1697-1780)
French woman of letters, patron of the arts

It took me almost 45 minutes of “getting ready” this morning before I made my first sales call. Once I made the first one, I kept going, one after the other, and before I knew it, I had 15 calls behind me and I was cooking.

Unfortunately, I have to deal with this every day. Just like you.

I remember once, years ago, walking into an after hours networking event, paying the admission fee, scanned the room, decided that there was no one worth talking to,…………..and left the event without ever talking to one person.

I’m going to an after hours networking event tomorrow. How do I know that I won’t leave without talking to anybody? Because I’ve arranged for about 20 people to be there, expecting to work with me. If they weren’t gonna be there, I might try to convince myself that there’s nobody worth talking to, but with them there, I’ll have to work.

I almost never visit a BNI group, but I substitute for members often. I’m just not excited about getting up and getting going to a 7 am meeting unless somebody other than me asks me to do it. Once there, I usually do OK.

This evening, after dinner, I sat for 25 minutes trying to convince myself to go for a brisk walk for a little exercise. After 25 minutes, I put my sneakers on and went fo a 30 minute walk. I feel better, physically and due to the fact that I did it.

Don’t worry about how much you have to do, do whatever it takes to take the first step. The rest will take care of itself.

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6/6/2006 5:37 AM Eric wrote:
An addendum to this is that it only takes about 21 days to develop a habit (less to break a habit, more to kick an addiction). So pushing to make that first call for about three weeks will help it get easier. Same with exercise – after setting a regular routine it’s easier to get out and go for a walk, hit the gym, or go swimming than it was the first few times.

The flip side is that it’s as easy to develop a bad habit as a good one – going to the local fast food restaurant for lunch every day, not helping with the dishes or other chores at home, or doing things that put you into a rut at work. We often start making excuses to justify our bad habits, further mentally reinforcing them for us.

I think exercise is the best habit you can develop. What other habits have the rest of you found valuable?
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6/6/2006 6:25 AM Paul LaFlamme wrote:
It comes down to trusting your judgement. Whenever I have to Psych myself up to take a certain action whether it's attending a networking event (while trying to forget about all the other stuff I could be getting done instead) or getting some exercise, 99.9% of the time I'm glad I did it.

I'm reminded that when he have something BIG to do, it's the first step - the next action - that really counts.
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