“Small deeds done are better than
great deeds planned.”
– Peter
Marshall
(1902-1949)
Former Chaplin of the U.S. Senate
We hear it from politicians all the
time. Their talk is filled with all the
wonderful things they are going to do, how our lives will be better and things
will change once they start to work. The
thing is, they never start. It is not unique
to them either. Many people will tell
you of all they plan to do. They have
great plans and will achieve great things, but the reality is, nothing seems to
happen. Maybe the problem is too much
talk and not enough action.
Success-minded
people are people of vision, not words.
You will find that those who achieve the most are the ones who talk the
least. They are too busy doing things to
spend their time talking to others about what they will "someday"
do. Success-minded people know that they
only day you have is today. There is
nothing you can do about yesterday and that someday never seems to get here.
I
believe that one of the problems some people face is that they see the small
stuff as small stuff. Listen to what is
being said and you will quickly discover that it is all big and grand. Nothing small or common about their
plans. But the reality of life is that
nothing big happens without first doing the small. It is the small, seemingly insignificant
things that change the world. They are
where all the real action happens. The
so called big stuff is just the end result of the small stuff.
Even
in the Scriptures in Zechariah 4:10 we are told not to look down on small
beginnings. Nothing great starts off
great. Not even you. Zig Ziglar always said, "You don't have
to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." You will never achieve your dreams in life if
you wait for it to all happen from the top down. You need to do the small things that are
seldom noticed before you can do the great things that everyone sees.
When
we see the quiet, hard working person who is doing what needs to be done, we
can be sure that they will one day achieve far greater things than the one who
talks a good game. I am not against
planning, we all know that you must have a plan of action to get to your
goals. The problem comes in when our
planning is all we do. There has to be a
point when the planning, the talking and the thinking stop and the action
begins.
The
Scout motto is, "Be Prepared."
You need to be prepared to take action.
To be prepared does not mean that you just know what to do. That is good, but it is far less than the
actual doing. Get out there and be
willing to do the small stuff. Be
willing and active in taking care of the little details so that one day you
will have the big dream. It is in doing
the little that we become prepared for the big.
You matter! You matter to the world and to yourself. Remember to be your best, love God, have good
manners, achieve the unknown and change your world.
John Patrick Hickey is an author,
speaker, Life Coach and proud Scouter. To read more from John Patrick Hickey or
to get his books, training and book him to speak to your church, business or
group, visit our website at http://www.growthcenter.net or www.johnpatrickhickey.com.
© 2014 John
Patrick Hickey
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