{"id":6362,"date":"2013-07-11T03:27:50","date_gmt":"2013-07-11T10:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.strategicmonk.com\/?p=6362"},"modified":"2013-07-11T03:27:50","modified_gmt":"2013-07-11T10:27:50","slug":"focused-on-taking-the-next-step","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/strategicmonk\/2013\/07\/11\/focused-on-taking-the-next-step\/","title":{"rendered":"Focused on Taking the Next Step"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/69413404@N04\/8964175262\/in\/photolist-eE8JZU-8qXBHn-dXm3d8-asJr4B-e1PzLF-bDjFbn-8skaYM-dpUjuT-dpU5mg-dpUjFX-biUDG4-biUD3Z-8AnpKE-buKnAA-dvPrDz-aeaCKA-a93dPU-8NuVSg-8Ny2hQ-8Ny2d5-8Ny1W9-8NuVsv-8Ny24E-8NuVyi-8NuVHr-buKi7E-aEUKua-85LGQ8-cKaUm1-8d4NhQ-dM7KZD-cfEKTf-dvPsxM-8Udvvd-dvMbBv-dvHYxP-7AgHub\" rel=\"nofollow\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone  wp-image-6363\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2013-07-10 at 10.28.20 AM\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/758\/2013\/07\/Screen-Shot-2013-07-10-at-10.28.20-AM.png\" width=\"515\" height=\"385\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I tend to be a fairly focused person. My focus is often on taking the next step.<\/p>\n<p>There are times, though, when I work with people who tend to get caught up in the grandeur and romance of the big picture. They paint with broad strokes.\u00a0There is great deal of drama in how they see their big picture. They tend to look beyond the far horizon and set a course of visionary exploration. They recognize that bold action has the power to inspire.<\/p>\n<p>There are other times when I work with people who concentrate on the details. They try to foresee and plan for every eventuality. They are much more pointillistic in their approach. They have an extremely accurate view of their picture. They examine each point and take pains to ensure that it is exactly right. They recognize that every action, no matter how minute, has consequences.<\/p>\n<p>I help them focus on taking the next step.<\/p>\n<p>As meaningful as a vision can be, it will make no difference if we never take steps toward realizing it. A vision without the will to bring it to life is little better than an illusion.<\/p>\n<p>As important as planning and details can be, they will make no difference if we never put our preparations into practice. Planning without action is an intellectual exercise.<\/p>\n<p>Our journey consists of the steps we take. We want to be headed in the direction where we want to go. Each step may be our last, and we want to make each one matter.<\/p>\n<p>Right now, in this moment, we pay attention to the step we are taking. It is a challenge, like walking on cobblestones in high heels.<\/p>\n<p>Where is your focus on your journey?<\/p>\n<p>What do you need to take your next step?<\/p>\n<p>[Image by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/errerivera\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><strong>ErreRivera<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I tend to be a fairly focused person. My focus is often on taking the next step. There are times, though, when I work with people who tend to get caught up in the grandeur and romance of the big picture. They paint with broad strokes.\u00a0There is great deal of drama in how they see [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2924,"featured_media":6363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-spiritual-practices"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Focused on Taking the Next Step<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I tend to be a fairly focused person. My focus is often on taking the next step. There are times, though, when I work with people who tend to get caught\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/strategicmonk\/2013\/07\/11\/focused-on-taking-the-next-step\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Focused on Taking the Next Step\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I tend to be a fairly focused person. My focus is often on taking the next step. 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