You cannot do everything, but you can do one thing, the most important thing, and you can do it now. Successful people deal with complex situations by taking them one step at a time until they are resolved.
When I was 21 years old, a friend of mine and I decided to go off to see the world. Many of our friends were going to Europe and hitchhiking around with rucksacks. We decided to be different and go to Africa instead. It never occurred to us to ask why no one else was going to Africa. We found that out later, much to our great regret.
To get to our destination in Africa, we had to cross the Sahara Desert. Starting from London, we rode bicycles across France and Spain. The labor was excruciating, the progress was slow and the pleasure was nonexistent.
In Gibraltar, we sold our bicycles and invested our last few dollars in an old Land Rover. We crossed from Gibraltar to Tangier and made our way through Morocco, over the Atlas Mountains and into Algeria. We were on our way. Still, there was one obstacle between us and the greenery we were anxious to see, and it was that darned old desert.
Our Land Rover broke down many times, but we finally got it repaired and set off to cross the Sahara. We had no idea how serious and how difficult this adventure was to be. As we moved south across the desert we encountered endless problems, any one of which could have finished our trip and, probably, our lives. It was during this desert crossing that I learned one of the most important lessons in my life about attitude.
The French, who had controlled Algeria for many years, had marked a path across the desert with black 55-gallon oil drums. The drums were spaced exactly five kilometers apart. As we drove and came to an oil drum, the next drum, which was five kilometers ahead, would pop up on the horizon, and the last oil drum, which was five kilometers behind, would fall off the horizon, as if shot in a shooting gallery. Wherever we were, we could always see two oil drums at a time — the one we had just left, and the one we were headed toward. To cross one of the greatest deserts in the world, all we had to do was to take it one oil barrel at a time. We did not have to cross the entire desert at once. We had to cross it only one oil barrel at a time, and that would be sufficient.
For me, the Sahara crossing was a metaphor for life. In order to maintain a positive mental attitude under all circumstances, all you really have to do is to take it one step, one oil barrel, at a time. As Thomas Carlyle said, “Our great business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”
You can foster and maintain a positive mental attitude by focusing on doing what lies clearly at hand, by taking the step that appears immediately in front of you. That will automatically lead to the next step, and the next, and so on. Eventually, you will find yourself at your goal.
Right from the beginning, you can choose to be positive and constructive in dealing with any adversity. You can sit down and think through the situation, and then begin to deal with it one oil barrel at a time.
We crossed the Sahara one oil barrel at a time. You achieve your goals one step at a time, as well. You can overcome the fears and doubts that can hold you back by being absolutely clear about your goals, and then going to work on them. Get so busy that you don’t have time to worry or doubt.
Now, here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.
First, remember the “5 P’s” — Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Break your goals down into bite-sized pieces, and work on them one step at a time.
Second, focus on the one thing that lies directly in front of you, and then do it quickly and well. The next step will take care of itself.
Third, sweep the negative emotions of fear, doubt and worry out of your mind by getting so busy working on your goals that you don’t have time to think about them.