Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Think Big, Go Small

You've heard the expression "Think globally, Act locally," right? It's a good one.
I've got another one for you:
Think big, Go small.
The "big" part is to set your goals and your aspirations high. Take your best shot. Why not? Why shoot low?
The "small" part refers to the little things that can make a big difference, if you do them consistently. Like habits.
Here are five that I have been thinking about recently. Perhaps you have other ones. Leave them in your comment below.
S = Say "thank you" with genuine sincerity.
M = Make your bed each day with mindfulness of the meaning embodied in such a mundane thing.
A = Ask a lot of questions, ones that show real interest in the other person, their work, their business.
L = Local library is there for you, like a huge treasure trove of information and support. And it's free!
L = Listen to others and learn from what they have to offer you.
There's a saying "Start small, Think big" that I learned years ago in my career development as an organizational change facilitator.
A consultant asked us once: How do you eat an elephant? The answer: One little bite at a time.
Sometimes, as we face a big challenge, we know we are going to have to "eat" the whole thing, but no way do we have the capacity to do so. So we "think big" and set our goal for the entire elephant.
But we need our tactical plan to focus on the many "bites" or small steps that we will take to get there. 
Terrence Seamon is a coach who helps his clients to "think big and go small." Follow him on twitter @tseamon