The First Step - Part 7 of 7

“Take the first step, and your mind will mobilize all its forces to your aid. But the first essential is that you begin. Once the battle is startled, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance.”
~ Robert Collier

Most people do not consciously recognize that there is a mind/body connection that can aid us or hinder us depending on how we use it. A quick way to test this is to think of what you do with your body when you are sad or depressed. Your head will be down, your eyes will be looking down, your posture slumped, your breathing shallow; whatever it is that you usually do when you are in that emotional state. Now, consciously perform those actions without any particular reason to feel that way and pay attention to how those actions combined affect your emotions and your level of thinking.

Now reverse it. Act the way you normally act when you are happy or really excited. Your head is held high, you are standing tall, you are breathing fully, your eyes are wide and looking upward, and you have a big silly grin on your face. Do this and see how those actions affect you. Now while you are acting happy, without changing any of those characteristics, try to get depressed. If you are honest and you stayed in your "happy stance", I am willing to bet that most people who try this are not able to get depressed.

So, why do I bring this up?

When you are immobilized in terms of your goals, when you procrastinate doing what you really want to do, that immobility has a dampening effect on your mind. And, conversely as Robert Collier points out, when you take the first step, your mind mobilizes all of its available faculties to aid you in achieving your goals and dreams. And when you act and your mind engages, you feel good, which, in turn, makes you want to act again, creating a Mind/Body Achievement Cycle and, pretty soon, you are "on a roll!"

But not only does your mind and your body work together for your good when you decide to act, but the universe conspires WITH you as well! Take my wife, for example. She is a Mary Kay consultant and she had to make a decision regarding her business. She could either scale back her efforts and settle into an easy, comfortable flow of business that would provide her with a little bit of extra money each month and leave her time to pursue other side interests, or she could pursue her dream of being a Director with an "I will not be denied!" attitude until it is achieved which would not only provide her with a good source of income to pay off debts and take amazing vacations with our family, enable her to meet new and amazing women on a regular basis, give her a huge sense of achievement, and win her a number of fabulous gifts and prizes every month. She decided to go for it!

Within days of her decision, incredible things started to happen. Her schedule for the following month was almost completely booked up. She had people lining up to join her team and go for their dreams as well. She even met a lady at the grocery store who she had never met before who gave her a solid lead for someone who was ready to join her Mary Kay team right away - someone my wife hadn't even worked with yet! Everything just started to fall into place seemingly overnight and my wife is well on her way to accomplishing amazing things with an amazing company.

In conclusion of the First Step series allow me reiterate the last words of Robert Collier's quote:

"...Once the battle is startled, all that is within and without you will come to your assistance."

A single step is all that stands between you and the path to getting everything you want out of life. There will be other steps to take and lessons to learn along the way, but it only takes a single step to get started. Take that step, my friends, and get yourself on the path. Nothing worthwhile comes to those who stand still in life expecting everything to be handed to them on a silver platter. We live in a "self-service" world where we have to get out and get the things we want. Don't be foolish enough to believe people are just going to hand it to you. It is as my father always told me: "He who hesitates is lost."

Take the first step and I will see you at the finish line!

Action Steps:
1. Take the first step towards your dreams and goals today!
2. Keeping taking small steps every single day until you achieve them!
3. Visit The Millionaire Marathon blog consistently for more tips, information and insights to help you along the way.