About 14 years ago, I listened to a parenting class that changed the way I manage my life.
I wish I could tell you who gave the class because I would love to thank her.
I don’t remember her name. My superpower is remembering your house and where all your stuff is. Remembering names… not so much. I do remember that I was sitting at my desk at a job I didn’t like when she said one thing that has stuck with me ever since.
“Always tell your kids, ‘In our family we focus on solutions.'”
My kids hate this.
Actually, “hate” is a too strong. They find it super annoying.
Something goes wrong, they’re frustrated, or disappointed, and they’ve got a very compelling explanation for why life is unfair. So I let them vent, and then I ask:
“Okay… what’s our next step?”
The eye rolls are spectacular.
Here’s the thing.
I don’t always know the next step either.
Sometimes there isn’t an obvious one.
But the people in this week’s Parsha – Pinchas – don’t know the answers either.
According to Chazal, before Pinchas acted he went to Moshe because he wanted to know if he had understood the halacha correctly. He didn’t have the whole picture. He took the next step available to him by seeking guidance.
A few verses later, the Torah introduces us to the daughters of Tzelofchad, their father had just passed away and now they don’t know what will become of them.
Imagine that conversation.
“Our father is gone.”
“What happens to us now?”
“I don’t know.”
“What if we lose everything?”
Then one of the sisters says, “Let’s ask Moshe.”
“But what if he doesn’t know?”
“Then he’ll know who to ask.”
The daughters don’t know the answer.
Moshe doesn’t know the answer.
So Moshe asks Hashem.
Nobody in this story begins with certainty or has along term plan, they simply identify the next step and take it.
Except there’s one enormous difference, he is not searching for the truth or justice.
He’s searching for a way to get the answer he wants.
He keeps pushing for an outcome Hashem has already told him he cannot have.
The difference isn’t who has all the answers.
The difference is whether you’re willing to ask, listen, and adjust when you don’t.
It isn’t that having a plan is bad, it’s that you don’t always need a plan, you just need to look for and take 1 step. (Anyway, our plan isn’t always the best plan!)
I think we make the same mistake all the time because we tell ourselves we’ll start once we know exactly what to do.
We’ll organize the house once we have the perfect system.
We’ll make the phone call once we know all the details.
We’ll make the change once we know it’ll work.
But that’s rarely how Hashem asks us to move through life.
Faith is knowing that when you take one step He’ll bring the details for the one after that.
Then the next one.
Then the one after that.
That’s exactly why I created Tidy Together and the Journey To Organization.
People don’t join because they don’t know they have clutter or trouble managing time.
They join because they don’t know where to begin, finding the first step seems to hard.
That’s where I come in.
You don’t have to know how you’re going to organize your entire home.
You don’t need a perfect plan, only the courage to take one little step, the next step.
You don’t have to do it alone – that’s what I love to do – help you figure out that step and the ones after that!
And before long, you’ll look back and realize you’ve made far more progress than you ever thought possible.
This week, don’t ask yourself how you’re going to solve the whole problem.
Ask yourself a simpler question.
What’s the next step?
If your next step is finally tackling the clutter that’s been weighing on you, managing your time better, or crossing things off your to-do list, I’d love to help.
Choose your package today, then schedule your first session before life gets busy again.
Let Future You thank Present You.