Take your first step, and monitor your success

Well done for reaching the last of the five steps. You have a clear idea of the impact you want and why, a plan to get there, more time to do it, and a network of people who can help. In the last step you chose one thing to work on this month. Now is the time to actually do it.

You have done a lot of thinking, discussing and planning. This step is about real action: putting everything you have learned into practice.

If the thing you chose in Step 4 is not yet tangible, your first job is to make it so. Could you involve others, for example in a workshop with external partners? Could you produce a physical artifact linked to it, like a policy brief, a film or an educational resource?

Then revisit your plan in Step 2: think hard about the activities, how they link to your impact, how to adapt them to different partners, and the risks involved. If you have not already, get a colleague to look for flaws. Then go to the people you reached out to in Step 4 and ask them for something specific. If you do not ask, you will never know, and more often than not, people genuinely want to help.

Finally, just go and do it, whatever it is, and aim to do it within four weeks so you keep your momentum.

One last thing. It feels great to be out there doing something, but how will you know it actually moved you closer to impact? Your Step 2 plan has a column for indicators and targets. Design whatever you do this month so you can collect information on whether it is working. If it falls short, try something else next month. Those who succeed most are often those most willing to fail, again and again, because that is how they learn to succeed.

Do not judge yourself by the number or quality of impacts you achieve. Impacts can take a long time to materialise, and an apparent lack of progress can be demotivating. Instead, judge yourself against your plan and the activities that move you toward impact.

Make it your goal to take small steps every day towards your impact. At the heart of this course is a relational philosophy: building empathic, trusting and respectful relationships. Note the small things you do each day that fit this philosophy, whether or not it is obvious how they help.

Repeat value-oriented behaviours again and again, and trust they will take you where you need to go. Rather than asking whether you have reached the top of the mountain, celebrate that you took a few more steps in the right direction today.

And if you have evidence your activities are working, or that you are achieving impact, shout about it. Celebrate and share your success with others on the same journey, so they can be inspired and learn from you. For more on tracking and evidencing impact, see Chapter 22 of The Research Impact Handbook, or our Evaluation design for engagement and impact workshop.