The art of taking small steps

So many of us have great ideas and dreams, only to find ourselves stuck when we try to implement and achieve them.

Very often we end up in a state of freeze - equal parts of sympathetic (fight /flight - mobilisation) and parasympathetic (shutdown-immobilisation).

In terms of behaviour, this translates into wanting to move forward to materialise your projects, but at the same time, a part of you can’t move forward productively.

In this state we often end up procrastinating. Going round in circles doing unnecessary tasks.

This can feel exhausting and frustrating.
We start internalising beliefs like:
“I’m not good enough.”
“I can never achieve anything of value in life” and so on...
These beliefs that were probably already in the background of your psyche, suddenly start to become “real”. In some people, depending on their trauma history, a chronic state of freeze can end up pushing them further into a full shutdown state.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.
By starting to work with your nervous system, inviting more regulation by discharging old patterns of fight/flight/freeze/shutdown and working with your window of tolerance, you can finally start moving forward in the direction of your dreams.

The “secret” of doing things the nervous systems way, specially when in a state of freeze, is to take small steps towards your goals. This way you can slowly come out of immobilisation without overwhelming your system.

And if you need extra inspiration to choose this course of action, remember that your brain releases dopamine (a feel-good hormone) every time you achieve your goals, no matter how small they are. This gives you more motivation and focus to continue to move forward.

By taking small steps you work with your brain/body instead of against them.