Don't Pole-vault Over Mouse Turds

Image credit: Sydney Fielding 

Isn't that the best title ever? I wish I could take credit for it, but it belongs to Wayne Dyer, and it's officially replacing "Making Mountains Out of Molehills" in my vocabulary forever.

Here's the thing about pole-vaulting over mouse turds: sometimes the problem in front of you is small. It just needs a tissue and a trash can. But instead of grabbing the tissue, we spend three hours analyzing which tissue brand is most absorbent, whether the trash can is in the optimal location, whether we should wear surgical gloves just to be safe, and if perhaps we should consult someone before proceeding. That is the pole-vault. Talk about dramatic.

Think Small

When Wayne Dyer said those two words, I had a reaction. I've spent a good portion of my life saying, "Go Big or Go Home" — so "Think Small" pushed back hard against that identity. But I practice what I preach, so I stayed open and kept listening. I'm glad I did.

Here's what I've noticed about driven people: we think big, we want to do all the things, and we want to do them perfectly. But those same driven people often get frozen. We're staring so far into the future at the big goal that we can't figure out where to start. That's not laziness — procrastination is no respecter of personality types. It's overwhelm. And overwhelm is just pole-vaulting in disguise.

The fix? Pick up one turd at a time.

I recently finished building a self-confidence course — and if you'd seen me at the beginning, you would not have been impressed. The completed course felt like the pole-vault. There are a bazillion things that can help people with self-confidence, and I got so tangled up in all of them that I kept dragging my feet. Sometimes we make the goal so big in our minds that we can't find the starting line.

So I went small.

One session I just listed every tool I could think of for building self-confidence. The next, I circled the ones that had actually worked for me personally. Then I organized them into categories. Then I assigned each tool to a category. Then I started building content — one small piece at a time. Each of those was a single, manageable task. No pole-vaults required.

Now I have a course I'm genuinely proud of. (Stay tuned — it's coming soon! 😄)

Just Today

This same approach works beautifully with habits, weaknesses, or things you want to change about yourself.

"Go Big or Go Home" says: I'm never eating refined sugar again. How's that working out for most of us? Yeah. Too dramatic. Too overwhelming. The pole-vault is already in the air.

"Think Small" says: Don't eat sugar — just today. At the end of the day, notice how you feel. Then, and only then, decide if you want to do it again tomorrow.

That's it. No promises about next week. No 20-year commitments. Just today.

Here are a few more to try on:

• Don't doom-scroll — just today

• Don't complain — just today

• Don't snap at anyone — just today

• Only check email twice — just today

Pick one. Just one. And only for today.

So here's my question for you:

What is ONE weakness, bad habit, or pattern you could set aside for just one day?

Not forever. Not even for a week. Just today — and see how you feel on the other side.

High five! ✋ 

Ready to rewire how you think? Let's talk: https://www.outofsmallthings.com/workwithme

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