How to Start Big Things

Most successful people who have achieved big things have one thing in common:-

They didn't wait until conditions were perfect before taking action. They started from where they were, using whatever they had and worked from there.

One of the great fallacies of life is that achieving big things is about taking giant leaps and having the best resources at your disposal. Nothing could be more wrong. The vast majority of people who started and accomplished big things did so because they used whatever was immediately available to them and consistently did the right little things that inevitably resulted in big achievements

As we go out and about, we encounter and are impressed by so many huge and incredible achievements. In the moment, we forget or don’t even know how they originally started. We also all have big aspirations and want to get there real fast. Yet, we don't want to make the daily improvements that lead to these big accomplishments.

A very practical example here is exercising. You don't suddenly become fit and healthy in a day of exercise regardless of how rigorous, good or effective your exercise routine is.

The way you reap the benefits of exercise is through accrued efforts. You consistently perform your routines, over a period of time, often without seeing any immediate results. Yet one day, after so many days, you'll indeed notice improvements. The improvements weren't as a result of any particular day's routine but rather came from the combined efforts you had put in over time.

Building a house is another example. A house isn't built in a day. There are several little steps that have to be taken over time before a completed building can be arrived at--from working the foundations, to laying of blocks to roofing etc.

Sure you can visualise the completed building even before a block is cast. But without the little steps and daily actions, the building can never come to fruition.

Whatever big things you want to achieve, rather than waiting to take a huge action, you recognise what the little steps are that if taken consistently, will culminate in big accomplishments, and proceed to work on these. As you take these little steps and achieve the small wins, you eventually find yourself with big success.

Generally, no matter what big goal you have, what huge and amazing feat you'd like to accomplish, the following steps can be employed to make it happen:-

1 Get your mentality right: Much of what is required to do big things relates to the mindset. Your mentality determines your reality. It is responsible for every success and every failure you have had and will have. Without the right mentality, it is virtually impossible to achieve big things.

Your mentality controls your life. So if you want to control your life, you need to control your mentality.

It is from our mentality that our attitude, actions, reactions and outlook to life emanate. When you believe deep down that you can start and achieve big things, your attitude is positive and you are more likely to be committed to taking the little actions that will result in big accomplishments. Conversely, the wrong mentality yields the wrong attitude and you’ve failed before you begin--if at all you do.

2 Clarify your goals: One of the reasons why some are unable to start and achieve big things is usually because they don't really have a clear definition of the things they desire. This clarity is needed because when you're trying to achieve something big, the actual path towards the success you want may not be obvious. Some of the steps you'll have to take may seem counter intuitive in the moment. To recognise and understand this, you need clarity.

This is also important when you encounter setbacks. Considering setbacks are inevitable, you need clarity to be able to bounce back and keep forging ahead. This clarity will enable you to be flexible to change tactics if need be.

3 Break down your big goals into smaller ones: Even though our visions are huge, we should think in the moment. This will lead us to recognise those smaller executions that lead up to the big achievement.

When you take your final goal and break it down into smaller goals, working backward from the final achievement to where you are today, you significantly boost your overall chances of success.

4 Take action: Having clarified your big goals and broken them into smaller steps, you actually need to start taking action. You don't sit around fantasizing, complaining or waiting for conditions to be perfect. You get to work.

Motivated by your vision and your goals, you get to work on the plans you've set. You start moving in the direction you want regardless of current conditions or what other people in your life say or do.

Efficiency and effectiveness will come later. What matters is that you start acting right now.

5 Exercise discipline and patience: The discipline to commit to regular action and the patience to see out the required wait period for your actions to yield results, are traits that are essential in achieving big things.

Your journey will seldom be a smooth one. You'll make mistakes and encounter setbacks. Several steps you take may backfire and you'll have to start over. It is discipline and patience that keeps you going.

We generally are always in a haste to acquire good things. We rarely want to wait for the necessary progress to reach the end result. We want things to happen quickly. 

But good things take time. There is no progress without change and change takes time. We must be disciplined enough to realise and patient to see it out.

Whatever the mind conceives, it can achieve. It’s your job to take these things and bring them to fruition.

You can only do that by getting to work. Time is going and the only guarantee you have is that lost time can never be recovered.