"Poco a Poco" ~ a mantra🧘

Poco a poco…

Little by little… 

Step by step…

Just put one foot in front of the other…

Common expressions we have heard time and time again. As friendly reminders whispered in support. As hearty pats on the back guiding us during uncertainty.

Building from my last newsletter, I encouraged us to focus on making progress, versus striving for perfection (whatever that may mean)…and perhaps this resonated with you, perhaps you breathed a little easier knowing “perfect” is pretty subjective. Perhaps you already function from a place of not striving for perfection…or are a recovering perfectionist. Awesome if so! 👍️ 

So, OK, while we may not be caught up on perfection, we still often strive for BIG leaps que no? To go from zero to sixty, from novice to mastery in record time.

We run full speed ahead initially don’t we? 🏃💨💪 Brimming with passion and excitement! 🤩 For whatever it is we are going after…becoming more active, acquiring a skill, getting more organized, starting a business or organization, learning a new language, healing old wounds, getting better with conflict, and the list goes on.

There may be some initial wins, but then the drudgery of the day to day creeps in. We hit speed bumps that surprise us and make discoveries that throw us for loops. We encounter difficulties, and naysayers, foreseen and otherwise, that make us doubt ourselves, that help us be our own worst enemy.

That initial surge of energy wanes…our vision is muddied…and next thing ya know we are throwing it all out the window because that one therapist wasn’t a good fit, or trying to go from zero to daily gym visits became unsustainable, or my sales took a hit for several months, or fill in the blank.

I’d challenge we are all guilty of doing this in some way!! 🙋‍♀️ 

Why all of us? Because overwhelmingly we are influenced by a global culture…an umbrella culture lets say…that rewards the BIG gains. Especially in the America’s (looking harder at you North America lol), we looooove an overnight success story. 😉 

Overnight success 10-15 years in the making is usually the more accurate tale!

We’ll dive more into what I mean by this “global culture”…but for now, the point I am trying to make is we must remind ourselves that it is NOT ONLY about progress over perfection, but that most often progress is not achieved by sprinting. Is it possible? For sure. Will we have quick big gain moments in life? Probably a few.

But overwhelmingly we end up achieving, progressing, evolving via baby steps.

We chip away day by day, cha-chaing through life, taking steps forwards and backwards. 👣 It’s the cumulation, the compound effect of showing up over and over and over again that inevitably allows us to look around and go WEPA, I’ve actually come pretty far!

Now, please don’t take this as a reason to never change course or quit on something. That is not what this is about. Sometimes a path is not for us anymore and the best decision is to say adios and move on to something else. EXPERIMENT with what works and be ready to leave whatever doesn’t. 🙌 

What this IS about is acknowledging you don’t have to have everything be a lottery win. That most success we achieve in this life is a compilation of efforts over an extended period of time. Staying consistent and accountable may not be super flashy or exciting, but goodness do those actions pay off in the long run.

Bueno tesoros, I honestly don’t remember when I first started using “poco a poco” as one of my go to expressions. So long ago now it just feels like it’s always been a part of my values system. By no means a unique or novel sentiment, but it has been a simple, powerful way to remind myself & others that practice makes progress, little by little.

Tis all a marathon bellos, so just keep on trucking. 💪 

& now you have a better sense of why I always say…

¡ADELANTE VAMOS, POCO A POCO! ~ TOGETHER WE GO FORWARD, LITTLE BY LITTLE! 😘🙏💖 

learning / resource corner:

We often get in our own way and lose sight of the poco a poco approach due to how we have been taught to structure our goals and approach to life in general.

Anne-Laure Le Cunff, a neuroscientist studying curiosity-driven intelligence, released a book Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World that provides an alternative approach on how we go about achieving what we want in life. It’s all about EXPERIMENTATION. If you plan to purchase, I encourage you to NOT buy on Amazon and instead support entities like Bookshop.org.

You can also check out her video on Big Think about the 3 cognitive scripts that rule over our lives. Personally, I found it to be full of a lot of good reminders, presenting concepts that I believe have been well known by ancient traditions of healing for some time, though many brush them off as spiritual “woo woo”. I appreciate that these messages are now packaged in the language of neuroscience, allowing all to reach a broader audience.

Check out her work and let me know what you think! 🤗 

NEW ONLINE WORKSHOP IS LIVE! 😍

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE for joining me as I soft launch Commerce with Heart programming in 2025, where we nurture purpose driven commerce, poco a poco 😉🙏.

BUILDING YOUR MISSION/VISION & VALUES STATEMENTS ONLINE WORKSHOP, SATURDAY MAY 31, 2025 - 11am-12:30pm:

Regardless if this is just for you as an individual, or as an entrepreneur, no matter the structures you may end up building (for profit / nonprofit), if you want to be purpose driven, starting with a clear MISSION (your why), VISION (aspirational goal), & VALUES (what all can expect from you) will be your foundation to build from.

People buy our WHY - our public craves authenticity from the brands and people they support - whether you're a service or product based enterprise; a sole proprietor, grassroots organizer, empire builder, or change maker.

This is meant to be working time for you to invest in taking one more step towards making your dreams reality! & we'll have a good time doing the work too, cause why not?! 😉 So be comfortable, & ready to roll up your sleeves.

During this 90min hands on online workshop, we will:

• Explore the difference between a mission & vision statement; and what a values statement is meant to represent

• Identify keywords & phrases YOU will uniquely use through a variety of exercises

• Craft your initial mission / vision / values statements

• Have opportunities for real time feedback as we work on our statement drafts

• Access to a Google drive folder with additional resources to help you continue to evolve your brand and messaging after the workshop

See you there!

Weekly Journal / Discussion Prompt:

What seeds of doubt planted in your mind do you most need to weed out and guard against?

Until next time,

xoxo Natalia

Courage, Community, Compassion, Cariño