what is the most important thing in the world

[Olaf]

I was thinking about what is the most important thing in the world and then a thought came "the most important thing in the world is you're next step, the next step towards you're development". I thought about it for a bit and now I really see that this could be the most important thing and number one thing to put all you're focus and attention on. For example, lets say you have an alcoholic, the most obvious thing that would help his improvement is stop drinking alcohol, but would it help if he learned about enlightenment or dating or whatever? No, because his main problem is alcohol and it would improve his life drastically if he took his first step to becoming sober, even if that starts with as little as being 1 day sober, that would be more important then anything he could ever learn.

Even if a billionaire gave him some advice to make millions, it would not be developing him, because he would use all that money to buy more alcohol and do more stupid stuff. So looking in you're life, what is the next important step? Small step, big step, the next step allong you're journey which could be as simple as eating healthy or sleeping better or having a routine etc.

There is something you know that would develop you in the overall scale, but that you don't want to do, because you want the result now, you want the success now, you want the result now, when that is not important, the journey is important. The result might be a motivation to stay on the journey of developing yourself like a stick to chase, to keep it in front of you to keep running. You're next steps and you're development, that is what truely matters, not the end goal. 

So lets take one more example, lets say you want to become a professional magician, you want to learn how to do magic. I am speaking about this as I have allot of authority on this subject lol. So lets say you want to be a magician, are you now gonna call the theaters that you want to perform a big show in their theater? Are you gonna try to get on tv or get in the spotlight? No. You first start with the most important part for a beginner. Learning the basics. Mastering the basic moves with cards or coins. You master those, then the next most important step is to learn a routine, learn multiple routines and practice them in front of people, in front of the mirror. Then the next step would be to get a mentor and learn, read books, become better until you are ready for the next step which is doing small performances, maybe birthday parties or on an open mic. And only then after years of improving and following the next step towards you're improvement, can you call yourself a magician that is ready to take on the world.

So think about what is the next step for you that actually leads to growth, that doesn't mean it directly leads to the end result that you have in mind, but it moves the needle, which can be very indirectly having something to do with you're goal. Just like the alcoholic example, it is very indirect, it seems like it has nothing to do with you're goal, but it actually has everything to do with it, because you can't do any work properly and improve as an alcoholic. So the question should be, what is the most significant next step, what is the next step that is gonna be a game changer even if it is small? To me, that is the most important thing in the world, more important then achieving any goal and to figure out what that next step is, is just as important. And funnily enough if you focus on those things, those significant changes that you need to make, that are painful and don't directly get to you're goal, when you make those changes, you will actually get to you're goal.

It’s almost like a magic trick. You think the trick is the goal, the thing you’re trying to make happen, but that’s the misdirection. What actually makes the trick work is happening somewhere else, in the thing you weren’t paying attention to: the next significant change you needed to make. Once you make that change, what seemed like the impossible result starts happening almost as a consequence.