It's New Year's Eve 2016, and I'm recording the last video of my advent calendar. Every day this month my email list has had a short video from me, each one sparked by a book I read this year.
Tomorrow, half the country will be starting something new. A new diet, a new business, the half marathon they've been talking about for three years. And a lot of them won't actually start, because they don't know how yet.
So for the last video of the year I want to keep it really simple.
Know where you're heading
Almost everyone I meet has something they'd like to change. Most of them are waiting until they've worked out every detail before they move.
You don't need every detail. You need to be clear about where you want to end up. Be specific about the what. The how can come later.
Then take one step
There's an old saying about a thousand miles starting with a single step. It's been around so long because it's right.
What's your first step? That's the only thing you need to know to get going. Not the second step or the tenth. Just the first one.
It's a road trip
Think about a long drive. You know where you're setting off from and where you want to get to. You've got the sat nav on.
Then a road's closed. Or you hit every red light in town. You don't turn round and go home. You find another way, because you still want to get there.
Nobody plans for every closed road before they set off. If they did, they'd never get off the drive.
What happened next
I've started a fair few things since I recorded that video. A podcast, a book, more than one website. Not one of them began with a finished plan. Each one began with a clear idea of where I wanted it to go and a small first step, and the plan caught up as I went.
That's really all Line up your dominoes is about. One small thing knocks over the next. And it's how I got through marathon training too, one run at a time.
First published December 2016.
