There is a Confucius saying that “the journey of a 1000 miles starts with the first step.” I think it was Confucius. Either way it was by anyhow someone who had a deep understanding of the fundamentals of the 'big picture' and a master in the art of dissecting the biggest of problems.
I have seen people so overwhelmed by the task at hand that they simply can't find the motivation to start. The latent fear that they might not have the energy to finish is so overpowering that it saps up the very belief that the job can be done at all.
A lot of people expend valuable energy (to say nothing of time) analysing the extent of the friction before they even begin to push. Problem is, that more often than not, the job at hand never really goes away. To to make matters worse, if we put a task off long enough we may find, much to our chagrin, that it has a tendency to grow in direct proportion to our diminishing energy reserves at the prospect. Often times a project fails to reach a successful conclusion not because the job cannot be done but simply because of failure to start.
In my experience, any such exercise is actually much like pushing a wheel on the slightest incline. While a lot of energy is initially required to overcome the friction between the wheel and the surface it is on, however, once the initial resistance is broken the wheel begins to take on a life and a momentum of its own and simply rolls to the next logical resting place.
Take any task piecemeal and it solves itself. Basically there are four logical resting places for any formidable job, and motivation required (phase 1 requires the highest level and then its relatively easier) only to get the ball rolling to the next immediate point: 1) the start, 2) the momentum build up, 3) the conclusion, and 4) the completion. Once sufficient momentum is built up by phase 2, any project almost concludes and completes itself, save for various incidental course corrections.
The trick is to look at each step as an end in itself; then each successful conclusion of a step can be treated as a subsequent foothold towards the final destination.
Even though what I have described seems elementary, I am always surprised how many people succumb to missing the forest for the tress. Progress measured against time is the motor – the trick is to pace the two for best affect.
Too much progress against too little time and the project might roll away from us and the point altogether missed, but too little progress against too much time and the project becomes a chore and the point never gotten. In either of the cases little is ever learnt and nothing is ever really accomplished.
'Speed' is important to keep the motivation high, but 'time' is important to ensure a good job, but most important of all, a 'start' is essential to get the job done.
A lot can be taken out of the statement above or the statement by Confucius, if one really looks into it and just reads the words for the simple proposition they make – the most obvious of which is that only way to see the end of a task is to start first.
I have seen people so overwhelmed by the task at hand that they simply can't find the motivation to start. The latent fear that they might not have the energy to finish is so overpowering that it saps up the very belief that the job can be done at all.
A lot of people expend valuable energy (to say nothing of time) analysing the extent of the friction before they even begin to push. Problem is, that more often than not, the job at hand never really goes away. To to make matters worse, if we put a task off long enough we may find, much to our chagrin, that it has a tendency to grow in direct proportion to our diminishing energy reserves at the prospect. Often times a project fails to reach a successful conclusion not because the job cannot be done but simply because of failure to start.
Take any task piecemeal and it solves itself. Basically there are four logical resting places for any formidable job, and motivation required (phase 1 requires the highest level and then its relatively easier) only to get the ball rolling to the next immediate point: 1) the start, 2) the momentum build up, 3) the conclusion, and 4) the completion. Once sufficient momentum is built up by phase 2, any project almost concludes and completes itself, save for various incidental course corrections.
The trick is to look at each step as an end in itself; then each successful conclusion of a step can be treated as a subsequent foothold towards the final destination.
Even though what I have described seems elementary, I am always surprised how many people succumb to missing the forest for the tress. Progress measured against time is the motor – the trick is to pace the two for best affect.
Too much progress against too little time and the project might roll away from us and the point altogether missed, but too little progress against too much time and the project becomes a chore and the point never gotten. In either of the cases little is ever learnt and nothing is ever really accomplished.
'Speed' is important to keep the motivation high, but 'time' is important to ensure a good job, but most important of all, a 'start' is essential to get the job done.
A lot can be taken out of the statement above or the statement by Confucius, if one really looks into it and just reads the words for the simple proposition they make – the most obvious of which is that only way to see the end of a task is to start first.
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