UPDATED 05/18/2025
Do you know what baby steps are? I’m not talking about the steps your child takes when the first start walking. I’m talking about taking small actions that move you (and the needle) forward in life and business. Before the pandemic, the world seemed to abide by the hustle harder culture and I was never able to keep up. So I stopped trying and started living by my own rules.
The Tortoise Took Baby Steps
You probably remember the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. It tells a tale about a friendship, if you could call it that. One where the tortoise is bullied and bashed by the hare and eventually gets fed up and challenges the hare to a race. The hare was arrogant, overly confident, and believed he would win the race because of his speed. The hare was so confident, he took a nap halfway through the race. To his demise, when he woke, the tortoise was right at the finish line. The tortoise ultimately won the race because of his determination to keep moving. Aesop probably wasn’t planning on telling us a story about baby steps, but he did.
The hare represents the hustle harder mentality. One that’s about rushing from the start and working intensely from the word “go”. That mentality can include a feeling of being overly confident. That you’ll win, you’ll get to the finish line first. When you practice this mentality, your nutrition suffers because you eat on the go, when you can or not at all. Your sleep also suffers because you’re working long hours and wake up early to start the day at the crack of dawn. But is the hustle harder mentality really worth it?
On the other hand, the tortoise is more like the slow and steady mentality. It’s about taking your time, processing your thoughts and feelings, and giving yourself grace when needed. When you’re going slow and steady, you’re not overly confident but you know deep in your soul that you’ll accomplish whatever you set your mind to. You take care of your mind, body, and spirit in the best way possible. And there isn’t a worry about making money because you know it will come. When you’re in this mindset, you’re ok with being a little behind everyone else because it brings you balance and a more peaceful way of managing everything that’s on your plate.
So Which is Better?
Well, it depends. The hustle harder and the slow and steady mindsets are deeply personal and I think you have seasons of both. As I update this post, I’m in the hustle harder mindset because I want to finish some pretty important tasks. Which mindset you choose is something only you can chose, based on where you are in your life. I encourage you to consider a baby step way of thinking to start. Break down your goals into small steps and work them, one at a time.
Baby steps help you go at your own pace. For me, it’s as small as accomplishing just one or two things a day. For you, it might be just one thing a week. It’s not about how fast you get things accomplished and more about working at a speed that works for you.
If you’ve ever jumped into something too fast and then realized it was a mistake, you already might know which is better for you. Baby steps give you time to work through your thoughts and decide if you should do a swan dive into the deep end or walk down the stairs into the shallow end of the pool.
As your seasons of life change, your mindset will too. You can have super busy seasons and you can have slower seasons. The pandemic made some of us slow down and helped others pick up speed. How you should handle things changes based on those seasons. Use baby steps to your advantage and determine if taking action is right for you based on the season you’re in.
My favorite part about baby steps is that you only have to do one thing at a time. Your focus is heightened and you are thinking about one small piece of your grander plan. Those work you put in compounds over time and will ultimately help you to reach your goals. Taking one step at a time is a longer journey, but you still reach your goal.
The next time you have a goal or project that you want to accomplish, consider implementing baby steps. At least to start! In the end, hitting your goal fast or slow doesn’t really matter because it’s all the same. Either way, you still reach your goal and accomplish what you set out to do.
