Instead of focusing on the long climb, focus on the next step.

My family and I have moved many times, all for job related reasons.   We have built homes and bought homes; lived in warm climates and cold ones. We even spent one Christmas in a corporate apartment – I took the presents and the tree with me when I drove ahead of my family so Santa could visit.

No matter how many times we have reached success – found a home, school, grocery store, church, friends etc…It never gets easier.

The secret, we have found, is to plan out the steps, then take them one at a time.

Last week I told you that my son was accepted to a competitive private high school and we decided to move to be closer to the school.

Here are the steps we are taking:

Sell our current house – Done, we are pretty good at picking homes that sell.

Establish a backup temporary housing plan for any contingencies – Done, we picked a family size apartment with a buy out option

Decide where you want to live – It’s about the drive time and market stability for us; we are still looking

Design your next home on paper – This one is always done; we’ve moved a lot remember?

Wait for the right house in the right neighborhood – Waiting

Here are some don’ts we learned:

Don’t skip steps; you’ll end up going back to get what you missed.

Don’t look back in sorrow at mistakes; just say, “We’re here now, how do we move forward.”

Don’t look ahead in fear; worrying only makes challenges seem harder.

Here are two final reminders when you take the tough steps to success:

Instead of focusing on the long climb of success, focus on the next step.

Recognize the success of being one step closer than you were yesterday.