Coaching...for a Change: Baby Steps

“…progress has to be a slow thing in order for it to be definite, you know, and beneficial…so it’s gonna take a little while…” – Tamara Dobson

For almost two years, I took a break from my career push to adjust to motherhood. During that time, I had the honor of watching my beautiful daughter grow up right before my eyes. When she was barely 6 months, a family friend implored me to disregard the baby walkers and let her build up to walking in her own way. He explained her body will know what to do and to trust the natural learning process, even if it takes a while.

At three years old she was running, jumping, and talking; all things that seemed lite years away when she was an infant. And she worked her way up to all of these things on her own. She did so with practice, setbacks, persistence; and from her parents, patience. I also remember those setbacks being so small, it didn’t discourage her.

It wasn’t until she checked all of those boxes that it dawned on me, the importance of baby steps and what our friend meant by natural learning process.

Baby steps are not only a natural milestone on our life’s journey, they are vital in our ability to master the things we need to succeed. They are the foundation of which we build any ability or skill. And in this context, baby steps aren’t just steps, it is an effective learning and goal achievement strategy. We start small, master the small, then add on. And for babies, even the ‘add on’ is another baby step. In essence, babies baby step their way into their childhood abilities.

As adults, however, our expectations change and we find ourselves wanting to see the end results of our efforts as soon or as quickly as possible; even if it means taking bigger steps to get there. But when taking those bigger steps, we miss the opportunity to learn and master everything in between, possibly the very thing we need, to make our success more definite and longer lasting.

When working with a coach, you have an opportunity to not only level set your expectations of progress, but co-create a path that enables you to baby step your way toward change, transformation, or goal achievement. The key here is identifying the small, mastering the small, then identifying the next small to add on. It can take a while, but better slow, than never. So when you’re ready to baby step your way to success, I hope you try coaching…for a change.