Last week, at the end of coaching conversations with two clients, I could see their excitement about implementing the changes we discussed to help them build the business and life they aspire to create.

In that moment, I encouraged each of them to choose one small action to start, with one important rule: it must take no more than five minutes. The idea is that by committing to a single, quick action, they are more likely to follow through and initiate real change.

To underscore the difference between intention and action, I set them a little riddle:

• Imagine a swamp, and on a log in the middle of it sit 10 green frogs.
• Four of these frogs decide to jump off.
• How many frogs are left on the log?

Both clients confidently answered six — and looked puzzled when I told them that was incorrect. The correct answer, I explained, is still 10, because deciding to do something and actually doing it are not the same thing.

This riddle serves as a gentle nudge to assist my clients to move from saying they will act to taking action, no matter how small the first step may be.