Taking the first step to business growth

There is a picture hanging above the mantel of my fireplace. I stare at it while I work. But I don’t really see it. I mean I used to see it all the time, but now I look at it but don’t see it. That sounds really weird but there really is a difference.

The picture is of a long pier that expands out into a still lake at dusk. The mountains are reflected in the water and the sky is slightly orange above those mountains. And the pier just reaches out in the middle of it. I used to look at it all the time. It looked like you could just walk right into the painting and onto that narrow pier and walk toward the end of it, where it drops off into the lake.

Tonight I realized that I forgot it was on the mantel. In fact, I hadn’t really paid much attention to the picture since we moved into this house and put it on the mantel–about three years ago. So I looked at it tonight. I noticed something odd though. I’ve always thought that when you look at the photo it seemed you can walk all the way to the end of the pier. And it does seem that way when you give it a cursory look. Tonight, however, I looked hard at it. I realized the only part I could really believe was real was the base of the pier or the part that was closest to me if I was to walk “into” and actually enter the picture. No I’m not getting all “Through the Looking Glass” on you, but you know, some pictures really do look like you can walk into them.

This one stopped looking that way however. While it seemed like one of those pictures on the whole, when I stared at it this time I started to think that the only “real” looking portion was that first part of the pier. Then I thought something else: that’s really the only thing that has to look real in order to go forward.

Do you get that? That’s true with anything. Especially with business. You may be able to see the big picture, but the only thing that has to absolutely be real to you is that step that is right there before you. And you take it. Then suddenly the step in front of you, which was previously the second step, is now the most realistic thing. And soon you will be at the end of that pier ready to jump out into that lake and prepared to swim.

You may be able to see the whole picture, but that doesn’t mean it has to look “real” to you. Just that first step. So take it and see what comes next.