How You Can Use the Power of Starting Small to Make it Big
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. Vincent Van Gogh
Have you ever fallen into a situation where you plan on doing something and at the end of it all, it crashed along the way?
If yes to the question above. Well, there is a way out of it in order for it to stop happening.
We all have goals, visions, dreams and plans. But yet we can’t seem to have a go at it or in any way get close to it.
The answer: Start small
I know most of you have heard it before. It is not new to you in any way.
“It’s OK to start small. As long as you start.” ― Izey Victoria Odiase
Most times, people know the answer to their problem. But the problem is oftentimes, they find it difficult to start.
Why? Because they don’t want to start small. And in all sincerity, nobody likes starting small.
Most people still don’t understand the power of compounding.
The aim of compounding is that Small choices + consistency + time = significant results. Says DARREN HARDY in his book The Compound Effect.
The basis is to start small but come out bigger at the end of it all.
What have you been finding difficult to do? Why not try starting small and build upon it from there.
Our failure often lies in the fact we’re not thinking small enough.
While it may seem small, the ripple effects of small things are extraordinary. Matt Bevin
A lot of people want to be an author, be knowledgeable, start a business, be an artist and the likes. But they don’t want to start small.
Small is a good place to start if you want to make a big difference.
The basis of everything we are is starting small. As Alvin Toffler puts it “You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things. So that all the small things go in the right direction”.
We are born as a baby, not an adult. Our moral intuition, reasoning and behaviour all started small. And compounded overtime to give us our identity of who we are today as a person.
Starting small enables you to recover from the mistakes that you are bound to make despite your best effort.
When you’re dating, you don’t ask someone to marry you five minutes after meeting them. You start small: you invite them out for coffee, take them to a show, or go for a walk. These are small acts, but they’re meaningful. Gradually, your relationship develops into something bigger (maybe even a life-long partnership).
Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together. — George Eliot
In the modern era of digitization and the world of an instant result. We tend to want to start from the latter (big) in the hope of getting (bigger) but only to fall short.
You can only start big when you have it all figured out. But rarely do people have it all figured out.
If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest. — Publilius Syrus
To achieve a result, you need to focus on the power of compounding. It is easier to write 500 words a day than to write a book in a day.
It is easier to read 10 pages a day than to read a whole book in a day.
If you always find it difficult to start small. Be rest assured that frustration is inevitable for you.
Initially, I write 200 to 300 words a day when I started writing and over time it moved to 500. With deliberate practice, moved up to 750 and now, I write over a thousand words daily.
Now compare it to if I had started my writing a thousand words at the beginning. I probably might have gassed out and get frustrated.
Starting small helps build momentum for bigger changes. And it’s tough to stop momentum once started.
The goal is not to get big at once but rather enjoy the process of getting big.
The top guys in their field Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Seth Godin, Ryan Holiday. Lionel Messi, Ronaldo, Lebron James and the likes can teach you how to grow. Not how to make it big.
Our process leads to our goals. And our process is the tiny work and effort that creates a long chain of result that gets us to our goals.
Aim for the sky, but move slowly, enjoying every step along the way. It is all those little steps that make the journey complete. Chanda Kochhar
Whenever you find yourself stressing over the big goals of what you haven’t started. Find a way to bring yourself back to the present by starting the tiny work within your power (process) to get you the daily result that will lead to your goal.
So I ask What are your challenging goals — big or small — that you’ve failed to reach in the past? Where are you currently doing, and what steps can you take, week by week, day by day, to reach your eventual targets?
Always remember: The power is in starting small.
