I was a high school football coach when my two oldest boys were little. My wife and I planned to have them two years apart. We also planned for them to be born in the off-season rather than during a busy high school football season. I didn’t see my wife very much during the fall and she agreed that would not be the ideal time to go into labor. We always joked that we planned a little too well as our off-season babies’ birthdays are only 5 days apart!

It was also during an off-season that my oldest was pulling up and standing on his own. He was right at the stage where he was ready to walk but hadn’t taken a step yet. On one particular occasion, my wife was out of town, and I had my son, Ian, with me at an off-season workout. He crawled around for a while on the old artificial turf that made up the floor of our weight room. The turf was an old green astroturf and it came from the Buffalo Bills game field. Ian seemed to be mesmerized by the boys working out and eventually grabbed hold of a bench and pulled himself up. He stood with one hand on the bench to balance himself and then he did it. He took a step. Then he took another, and another. He took ten steps before crashing to the turf!

Leading up to this day, my wife and I had been encouraging him to take that first step. He was ready but just didn’t have the courage yet to do it. For some reason, that day he was ready. Maybe it was the energy from watching those high school boys. Maybe it was the encouragement from feeling part of a team. Who knows, but he did it. His first step was ten steps! I have always reminded him how cool it was that his first steps were taken in a weight room on the same turf that the great Thurman Thomas ran up and down on!

It’s hard taking that first step. You don’t know what is going to happen. You’ve never done it before. Its scary. What if you fall? What if it hurts? What if its embarrassing? What if you just flat out fail?

Here are a few more “What If’s.”

  • What if you don’t fall?
  • What if you do fall but get right back up again?
  • What if it builds your much needed confidence?
  • What if unlocks your hidden courage?
  • What if it’s the beginning of the greatest thing you’ve ever done?
  • What if it’s the start of discovering and fulfilling your purpose?

What if, just like my son, that first step was so powerful that before you knew it you were ten steps away from where you originally stood?

For most reading this, I do not know you. We’ve probably never met. But there are some things that I do know about you. This is what I know.

  • You have dreams and goals.
  • You desire to be a good man to those around you.
  • You desire to be a good husband to one woman.
  • You desire to be a good father to your kids.
  • You were created with value and a purpose to fulfill.

The first step to accomplishing these is to, well, take the first step. Too many men know the path in their heart but remain frozen in fear. The wrong “what if’s” keep us standing still, or worse, moving backwards. What a different life you might live if you just took the first step toward your dreams, goals, and purpose. What a different world we would live in if men could break out of the complacency and fulfill their callings. What if taking your first step led you to a joy that you never knew existed?

Many times the hardest part on the journey toward your goals and dreams is just taking that very first step. This doesn’t mean the rest of the journey is easy, but the mental, emotional, and physical momentum from breaking that barrier between standing still and that first step is powerful. So, get the hard part over with and take the first step.

Men, you have what it takes!