Taking the Next Best Step

Are you a goals person? Do you write everything down, mapping out each step toward what you want? Or do you prefer a manifesting approach, creating vision boards and meditating on the future you’d like to see? Maybe you don’t do either.

Over the course of my 25-year career, I’ve tried many different ways to reach personal and professional goals. What I’ve learned is that they all share one essential truth: growth happens through the next best step.

Recently, I came to an important realization. My internal voice had become harder to hear. This voice once guided me with quiet confidence. It directed me toward the next steps for my highest good. Somewhere along the way, it grew overburdened with the need to conform or fit in. I was still productive and capable, but I’d lost some of the connection to my inner guidance.

Reconnecting with that voice has been its own practice. I’ve had to learn how to turn down the volume of other people’s expectations, both real and imagined. I needed to begin listening inward again. Some days that means sending an email or brainstorming an idea. Other days, it means resting, being still, or reaching out just to say hello. And sometimes, it means writing to you, like today.

Our lives are our own to live. The path you take toward your goals is uniquely yours. Do what works for you. Experiment. It doesn’t matter what the gurus, your friends, or even someone writing an article 😉 says. Find your approach from what you read and listen to, then take the next best steps that come from it.

Every meaningful change starts the same way. Every turning point begins similarly. Each moment of peace begins with one small, true next step ahead.

For more reflections and tools, visit the HG People Bookshelf. These resources are designed to help you align your inner voice with action.