Image courtesy of the author

Amanda Wang and her trainer Moises, inside the historic Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn.

During my trip to New York, I had the good fortune to meet up with my good friend and client Amanda Wang. I have written and spoken about Amanda many times, including in my TEDx talk about the power of the next generation. Amanda has Borderline Personality Disorder or BPD, and has devoted her life to helping people understand and manage this debilitating mental illness. Amanda is also training for the Golden Gloves, and won her first fight last month.

I sat down for coffee with Amanda and her trainer Moises in Brooklyn, and we talked about the parallels between boxing and building a business. Both Moises and I are passionate Amanda fans, and we talked about how proud we were of her many accomplishments.

“You can go all the way,” Moises said to Amanda, after talking about witnessing the killer look in her eyes in the third round of her winning fight. “You can win the Golden Gloves.”

“You can do great things in the world,” I said, talking with her about an emerging speaking career, as well as her graphic design and video production businesses. “Your story is tremendously motivational, and you could reach a lot of people with your message.”

Amanda’s big grin turned into a grimace.

“You guys are starting to scare me” she said. “I get kind of freaked out when I look at the big picture. I don’t know if I can do it all.”

“Amanda,” said Moises, “All you have to worry about is “poquito a poquito” (little by little). Focus on what is right in front of you and do it well.”

Poquito a poquito became our favorite metaphor of the afternoon. And I used it the next day with a client who had a similar “holy s*it” moment when she looked at all that was involved in making her business model come alive.

Do you  stop yourself  from doing great things in the world because you think you need to know how to do everything before you start?

You don’t.

You just have to know the tiny step in front of you. And if you don’t know how to take the tiny step, ask someone smart.

A book starts by opening your word processor each day and pounding out some words.
A movement starts by gathering a passionate group of people around a table in a cafe.
A business starts by putting up a tiny service page and “buy” button.

Poquito a poquito wins the race.