Visualize every part of success and reach for it one step at a time.
Do you ever notice that you can stress yourself out about something that you’re avoiding or dreading? Then, when push comes to shove and you face the thing and handle what needs to be done, it turns out to be no big deal. The stress was born of the anxiousness, the anticipation, or the overinflation you invented in your mind. The thing itself wasn’t much cause for stress.
This tendency to make things bigger in our minds than they need to be can lead to procrastination, which exacerbates the problem. Further, this tendency can become a habit—a pattern we apply to more and more aspects of our lives. If you find that you tend to make mountains out of molehills, here are a few ways to break that habit.
Visualize the Outcome
Rather than focusing on what’s difficult or nerve-wracking about the task at hand, picture in your mind the successfully completed outcome. What does completion look like, how will it feel to have completed it, and why is it important to realize this outcome? When you can see yourself in your mind’s eye happily succeeding, and even replace the worries with thoughts of accomplishment instead, the resistance to taking action towards that outcome begins to subside.Smallest First Step
Now that you’ve envisioned what you’re aiming for, identify the very smallest first step you can take to make progress toward that aim. The key here is to make the first action extremely easy and simple. If you’re avoiding working out in the morning for an hour, make the first step something like getting dressed in your workout clothes or laying out your workout clothes the night before. If you’re avoiding a writing project, make the first step sitting down to your computer at a certain time or bringing your notebook to a quiet location free of distraction.No Big Deal
As you take incremental steps toward accomplishing this aim, remind yourself that it’s not a huge deal. Combat the tendency in your mind to make it a giant mountain you are trying to climb. When you picture the task or project, imagine that you are bigger than it and not the other way around. This tendency is one of the mind and it takes mastering the mind to overcome it.Don’t Drag Your Feet
As you continue to get closer to completion of this task, keep going. Don’t delay reaching the finish line unnecessarily.Notice How Easy
When you actually achieve your goal, notice what it took to get there. Perhaps it was much easier than you thought it would be. Perhaps some of what you thought it’d entail wasn’t even realized. Perhaps you underestimated what you’re capable of. Notice that, in the end, it was no big deal.
