Today is the day after Thanksgiving. My daughter asked me to go Black Friday shopping. I was a heck no. But then I thought, “Maybe I should leave the house?”
Don’t worry, the urge left almost the moment I had the thought.
But it’s a funny moment. A person asks a question, and for a blink… you have no idea if you’re making the right choice or what you should do next.
What did I do?
I sanity checked that I still agreed with my no.
Then, I took a walk around the house to clear my head.
Then, I took the next right step.
In this case, the next right step was to do dishes and then make artichoke dip with my son.
The artichoke dip turned out delicious and we spent some quiet happy time together.
And my daughter? She took my other 3 daughters to the store. They bought snacks and a few things on super sale.
Everyone seemed happy and well. And mama didn’t have to leave the house or fight the traffic.
How is this useful for you?
I use many of the tricks I’ve learned parenting in my business.
One of those tools is the “next right step” technique.
The only flaw I’ve found in the technique is wondering, “Is the step I’m taking the ‘right’ one?”
In case you were wondering the same thing, I can tell you…
When you run out of ideas, any action is better than no action.
Which means, take any step. It will be right.
And if it’s not the right step, it’s fixable. And it’s certainly better than not taking any steps.
And what if you’re truly stuck for ideas about what to do…
Take a walk.
Do some dishes.
Move the laundry from the washer to the dryer.
And just listen to yourself think.
An idea will show up.
They always do.
