Overwhelm and exhaustion permeate the Baton Rouge community. We are six weeks out from the flood, the adrenaline rush has passed, and what we now have are giant piles of rubble, displaced people/animals, and lung infections. That’s not to say we have given up because we have not. Every day people I know and don’t know fight toward recovery. Their fortitude and iron-tough positive spirits are impressive. The amazing acts of kindness continue as well and the stories regularly bring me to tears.
Over and over lately I’ve come across this idea of ‘focus on the one next step’ which is sometimes referred to as a process mindset. Research and thinking about the concept are laid out in this excellent piece.
A process focus takes a goal and breaks it into the smaller steps required. The focus then shifts to accomplishing the one next step or micro objective. This allows for regular victories. Interestingly, brain chemistry is positively affected by even small successes. The article sums it up: “Process promotes progress, and progress, on a neurochemical level, primes us to persist.”
Without giving too much away, a process mindset is the story of The Martian, an awesome movie if you are into NASA and space as the final frontier.
It’s also in the powerful, aha-filled book Love Warrior by Glennon Doyle Melton. During a dark time and feeling overwhelmed she makes a list called What I Know. The last item on this list is “Just do the next right thing one thing at a time: That’ll take you all the way home.”
Can’t say it any better than that. Give the idea of a process mindset some thought and give it a try next time you are overwhelmed or exhausted. Not sure what your one next step is? Coaching can help.
Subject change. 🙂 Over the weekend I saw Steve Jobs (the movie) and then saw The Beatle’s documentary Eight Days A Week. Fascinating to realize how much of my life as I live it is a result of their mind-blowing legacies.
Caught Ringo and His All-Starr band on tour a few years ago. His message was peace and love. Sending that same message out to you today.
What is your one next step? Would love to know your thoughts. Share them in the comments section below.
Have you seen 
Just because a bigshot or prominent organization does something, doesn’t make it right. Evaluate actions you hear and read about against your values. I say this because behavior modeling is one of the most fundamental ways that humans learn and it includes modeling both positive and negative behaviors. If you’ve ever let a bad word slip in front of a toddler, you know this to be true.