I used to believe that if I couldn’t get it perfect, it wasn’t worth doing at all. All or nothing – that was my pattern. If I couldn’t wake up at 5 a.m. to workout six days a week, I’d quit altogether. If I couldn’t guarantee success, I wouldn’t even try. If there was a chance I’d fail, I’d talk myself out of it and say I wasn’t interested anyway.
Big dreams, but no room for small steps. No flexibility. No grace for being human.
It took me years – decades, really – to learn that momentum isn’t built in giant leaps. It’s built in tiny, often unremarkable steps. The first imperfect action. The messy first draft. The resume you send at the last minute, just to see what happens. The question you dare to ask – and the unexpected yes you get back.
I didn’t know this when I was younger, but tiny steps are the seeds of real change. They’re proof that you trust yourself enough to begin – even when you can’t see the finish line yet.
When I look back now, the biggest changes in my life didn’t come from a single moment of clarity. They came from a series of tiny choices: the moments I gave myself permission to try, to fail, to learn, to try again.
One day I opened an email about internal coach training – something that was supposed to be “one day”, something I wasn’t “qualified” for, something my rank didn’t align with, something that seemed too big for me. But I thought: the worst they can say is no. So I hit submit on the application at the last possible minute. Tiny step. They said yes. That tiny step turned into a door swinging open. I kept taking those tiny steps, one after another: showing up for the training, practicing, fumbling, failing, learning, improving. And here I am – still learning, still stepping forward.
This is the truth behind every “big leap” you see from the outside: it’s not one leap. It’s a thousand tiny steps.
Today, I’m taking another step – one I’ve dreamed of for years. For the conclusion of this Messy Middle series, I’m so proud to share that I’ve legally registered my business: ADE Coaching LLC. This isn’t just about having a business. It’s about choosing to trust that my story, my skills, my purpose, and my calling all matter enough to keep showing up — even when I’m still figuring out the how.
If you’ve been reading my Messy Middle series, thank you. Thank you for letting me share the scattered puzzle pieces, the fear, the doubts, and the gentle unfolding of what comes next.
I hope if you take anything from these letters, it’s this: you don’t have to have it all figured out. You don’t have to wait for perfect conditions. You don’t have to leap the whole distance today. You just have to take one tiny step that future you will thank you for.
💜 So here’s my invitation for you: What’s one small thing you could say yes to today? One question you could ask. One door you could knock on. One thing you could try, even if it’s messy.
Tiny steps build a life. Tiny steps change everything.
ADE Coaching LLC is my next step. If you’d like someone to walk beside you as you take yours, I’d be honored to be there.
Here’s to tiny steps. Here’s to the next right thing. Here’s to the brave work of becoming. 💜
Letters from Life 