Teen Leadership and Mentoring Blog
Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ial714wZg_0
There is an old African proverb that goes something like this, Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
You can picture this, can’t you?
Yeah, dreaming BIG is a little scary. And we probably shouldn’t just dive head into something that is huge, or test the depth of the water with both feet. If we do, we may be sorry…
I know what you’re thinking. “Isn’t starting small the exact opposite of dreaming BIG? Aren’t we suppose to aspire to BIG accomplishments by doing BIG things? How are we suppose to do BIG things by doing little things?”
Well, I’d answer that one by saying, “Exactly! That’s exactly what you’re supposed to be doing. You’re supposed to be doing BIG things by doing little things.”
You see, rarely do we ever get to do BIG things in the real world by doing BIG things in our daily lives. Most of the time we get to do BIG things in this world by doing a bunch of little things in our daily activities.
The secret of doing a bunch of little things is that they add up. But, even more importantly, they give us the courage to start. And once we’ve started and gained a few quick simple victories this momentum give us the perseverance to continue when the going gets tough.
In essence, by starting with small things and breaking our BIG thing into a bunch of small doable chunks we create a feeling of excitement in ourselves instead of a feeling of stress. Trust me that’s a good thing. In addition, by breaking BIG things down into small doable chunks we create a sense of curiosity in ourselves rather then a feeling of being overwhelmed. And trust me, that’s a good thing too!
So go ahead. Follow Eleanor Roosevelt’s advice and do that which you think you cannot do. But do it by remembering to break the BIG things down into small things. Dream BIG but start small.
Now, please share with the rest of us how you plan to dream BIG but start small.
Thanks for your time,
Daniel Blanchard
Author of Granddaddy’s Secrets series
