He tells us everything over and over— one line at a time, one line at a time, a little here, and a little there!”
Isaiah 28:10 NLT
The other day I was working out and I had a 20-minute routine to complete. After 3 minutes (that felt more like 30 minutes), I told myself I don’t think I can do 20 minutes of this. I planned to stop because of my own made up rule. Then i decided to push till i could not and then take a break. At the 10-minute mark, actually the 9 minutes 59 second mark (smiles), I pressed pause. I took a break and then got back on to complete the remaining 10 minutes and 1 second. I eventually did all 20 minutes, and I learnt something in the process.
If I didn’t take the break, I won’t have completed the 20-minute cycle. Why attempt something you feel you would fail at? What is the point? Breaking it up into small chunks allowed me to finish the 20 minutes at a pace that was doable for me. It was not all or nothing. It was a bit of this and a bit of that and the result was progress.
How many times do we subconsciously operate within the framework of all or nothing; black or white; either or? Who even sold us that lie anyway? I have learnt through experience in life, business and nation-building, that it is never all or nothing. It’s a little of this and a little of that. It’s breaking things up and taking little wins today, while still pushing for more progress tomorrow. It is passing that policy today that will drive impact even though it’s not perfect, but it’s miles ahead of where you are today. Significant progress is built over time on the back of little wins. We often don’t see the impact of the wins today, but when we look back 5 or 10 years, we see how far we have come. But we would not have travelled that far if we refused to take what was within reach today.
So, determine to stop keeping your dreams on pause, waiting for the perfect time and to have everything lined up. It doesn’t quite work that way. I am convinced the reason we fail to achieve aspirations is this ‘all or nothing’ mindset. Your biggest dreams are overwhelming (that’s why they are big dreams) and an ‘all or nothing’ mindset will ensure you don’t even get started because it will be too much.
Embrace a different way of thinking – here a little, there a little and then progress seems to come suddenly!