Doing the Next Right Thing

Doing the Next Right Thing

When I was partaking in my coaching studies almost 10 years ago, one of the items that was emphasized to us as coaching students was the concept of “living in the moment.” It is not uncommon for us as human beings to obsess about what has gone wrong in the past, or worry about how I will avoid a tragedy in my future. However, the only thing we ever really have any control or influence over (and even that can be limited to a point) is what is happening in the here and now.

This was all reinforced for me over the last few weeks as I have been taking an online program that I was made aware of by my wife’s niece. The program was offered as a way to make the Lenten period before Easter more meaningful to me as a Catholic. And, while I have taken to viewing the videos involved in the program each and every day, and have some resonate with me, and others be ones to which I felt were somewhat preachy or resistant to, one of the early ones involving “Doing the Next Right Thing,” connected with me spot on.

So what is “Doing the Next Right Thing?” And, how do you know if the thing you are doing is indeed right? Only you can answer that for yourself. That next right thing, does not have to be monumental in nature. It may not even be an activity where you are very physically active. Perhaps, that next right thing is to sit quietly by yourself, listen to your breathing, meditate and get yourself and your thoughts collected. It could be doing a kindness for a friend or a stranger. Maybe it means taking time to set your calendar for the next week.

We all get anxious about things. However, we certainly tend to get less anxious, and even more intensely focused when we are doing the right thing in the moment. We begin to forget about the next step, the other things on our mind, or whether we are doing the right thing or the wrong thing. There is an immersion of ourselves in the present, fully focused on the activity of the moment. May our thoughts drift to the past, or to the future? That can happen, but that is truly a signal that you are letting go of the present. And, if in letting go of the present, you begin to doubt if what you are doing at that moment is the right thing for you to be doing, or perhaps it wasn’t the right thing in the first place.

We all have items we are looking to get accomplished. Some of those may have many steps attached to them. And, if we get obsessed about all of the steps now, we’re likely going to paralyze ourselves from moving forward. So, if your goal is to ultimately sell your house, perhaps a “next right thing”, is to begin going through one room or even one closet at a time, and decide what items you would take to your new destination and which ones you will give away or discard. Or if you have that big exam coming up in a week, perhaps the answer is to study a chapter or two a day, and move through the chapters, in a sequence, as opposed to trying to cram everything into one short period.

So, when you are feeling yourself overwhelmed or tensing up, and you are not sure what you should be doing next, or feel that you should be doing about 3 or 4 things all next, take a step back, take a breath and say, “What is the next right thing I should be doing?” Commit to it, get it done, and feel that sense of accomplishment. Don’t fret if you could have done it better. Then, move on to the next right thing that makes sense for you to do.