Make The Leap

At my Toastmasters club meeting last Saturday, one of the guests volunteered to give a short impromptu speech on a topic she had not known about. That segment of the meeting helps guests and even Toastmasters to hone their impromptu speaking skills and to be able to think on their feet.

When the speaker started, she tasked us to imagine a building...how it doesn't just stand on its own. How it was laid brick by brick. How if the bricks weren't laid right, if the cement was not in the right consistency and quantity, the house was not going to stand. As I listened to her motivating short speech, I thought to myself: that building would not have stood had the first brick not been laid.

As someone who has taught a few people from scratch how to swim, the major hurdle I usually encounter with many students is to get them to enter into the water. Getting into the water sounds easy but if I had not had that fear myself when I started to learn many years ago, I would never understand how difficult it is for many people to get into the pool.

One of my students gave me a memorable class. In her first lesson, she refused to get in the water. She just couldn't beat her aquaphobia. Each time she tried, she got more terrified. Before her, I never had to teach anyone who would not get in the water. I cannot imagine myself paying for a swimming class and not getting into the water. Even if that was the only thing I achieved for that lesson.

Before I started to swim myself, I could not stand the sight of a body of water. So I knew exactly how my student felt that day. But by the 3rd lesson, she was already gliding half of the width of the pool. Today, she swims swimmingly well. She's still amazed at herself. How she went from someone who could not step a foot in the pool to someone who goes the length of a swimming pool by herself. All it took was the first attempt in the water.

In my secondary school chemistry class, I remember well during ionization when my teacher was explaining to us how to remove electrons from atoms. He said the hardest electron to knock off is the first one. After the first electron has been knocked off, it becomes easier with subsequent electrons and you do not need as much energy as you did for the first electron.

When learning how to drive, the biggest fear is just before you get behind the wheel. Once you are in the driver's seat, the fear eases off and you get more comfortable with the driving. But until you sit in that seat, that fear is not going anywhere. No matter how much you psych yourself up, you need to make that first attempt.

The first step is always the hardest. The most difficult. The most challenging. Sometimes, it is because of fear of the unknown. Other times, it is fear of leaving the comfort zone and this in particular affects many, many people.

Once you cross the Rubicon, it gets easier. Once the first steps are taken, a very important resistance is broken...because until you start, you may never start. Not everyone had their journey figured out before they started. Not everyone knew the steps to take as they went along. They just knew it was more dangerous for them to be stuck at a spot, so they started anyway.

All accomplishment starts with the decision to begin.

When next you are faced with a new challenge that appears daunting, remember that beyond the first step, the fear of starting eases off.

Taking the first step creates momentum. Life rewards those who are willing to be involved in it and take chances. You should not wait until the situation is perfect because the situation will likely never be perfect. There will always be something that will make you want to reconsider.

But when you determine to take the leap, you will not only boost your own self confidence, you will also inspire those around you who look up to you for emotional and mental support.

The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.

- Chauncey Depew (former United States Senator)