Dear Steven,
One of the recurring themes for getting anywhere, in anything, is to do things one at a time. This is more than the understanding things needing to be done in a certain order. Or things needing to be prioritised. It is simultaneously simpler and more complex than these.
It is simpler in that it literally means to focus on one thing moment to moment. To treat it both as all that needs to be done, and the most important thing to do, for as long as it takes.
Is it cleaning a bathroom sink. Is it finalising a five figure client agreement. It doesn't matter. In that moment one is as important as the other.
It is more complex because it takes habit to truly do it. To get the most out of it. At 5am in the morning getting through a workout routine would be so much easier with music. More pleasant.
Yet giving into is the beginning of giving into the habit of splitting focus. Far better to move the workout, or to take the time to be in the right heads space prior. Whatever it takes to focus.
It is also more complex because it applies to those truly difficult or painful moments. Moments of anger, or doubt, or sadness, or anxiety, or frustration, or exhaustion.
Moments when we crave distraction or a sense of escape. Step by step here means to accept those emotions, to work through them, and to let them pass naturally. Or at least let them pass sufficiently enough to function - before moving on to the next step functioning.
Yours truly,
Lara