getting shit done: the building blocks.
“a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” -Confucius
i love starting projects. the brainstorming. the new ideas springing forth like athena from zeus. the world rolling out at my feet. the wind in my hair. everything opens up. there’s a palpable sense of possibility. the sun breaks through the clouds. nothing can stop me. except the next step of the project (but i’ll address this discursively).
and there are a lot of ideas out there. some fall away (or get shot down by well-meaning friends–never tell people your unhatched ideas), some you nurse and coo into being, and others seem to arrive fully-formed and raise themselves. choosing to support the project whose brilliance shines through you is wise. the strength of the project and of your conviction will naturally attract the generous assistance of others, and we want to be part of something bigger.
so you choose a project. wind in hair. high as a kite. etc. it’s likely you’ll eventually hit a point of resistance. what happens then? you and your big ideas. you dreamer, you. what were you thinking? all the right things. just too fast. and it’s dangerous when you’re that high.
so i’ve spent a lot of years with big ideas. and turned a few of them into big projects. and struggled with frustration and resistance and doubt. and i’ve discovered a secret. the best way i’ve found to bring an idea to fruition is to move in (almost imperceptible) increments with unshakable dedication to the smallest of efforts.
example: eating one dozen donuts in a sitting. you can’t do that shit all at once. you start with a bite a day. within a few weeks, you could be eating dozens of donuts per day. mmm, heart attack.
example: you aspire to cover your entire house with small colorful sticky dots for a very large game of finger Twister. whee!
example: one day you could hold the world’s record for the most jumps on a pogo stick.
example: worldwide nuclear disarmament and ensuing reign of peace.
example: thinking of a lot of examples.
example: learning esperanto. actually, that’s dumb. don’t bother.
slow and steady. slow and steady.