stop thinking big, start doing small

I've been told my whole life to think big. And I'm good at it. I could think big until you and I are both blue in the face.

But actually doing something about it? Well, that's where I stop short. I freeze up. I have this grand idea, but then I look down and see that I've got nothing. And I suddenly become paralyzed, wondering how do I even get started?

I'm okay with thinking and dreaming big. But I'm not okay with doing small. I'm uncomfortable with doing small. Actually starting a dream means facing reality. It means facing failure. It means putting hours of work into something that may very well fail.

I'm sure that you've heard the statistic that 80% of businesses fail. Who knows where that came from, but it's probably about right. Every time that I heard that, I grew discouraged. 80%?! No matter how much hard work that I do, I could very easily get into that 80%. It would make me just want to throw up my hands and quit.

But then I heard a podcast from a highly intelligent woman. I wish that I remembered her name, but she was on Dave Ramsey's EntreLeadership podcast. She said that although that number, 80%, is true, it only accounts for businesses that have failed. It doesn't take into account entrepreneurs who have failed.

That really hit home.

Businesses fail. But entrepreneurs get back on their feet and start again. They create new businesses, analyze where they went wrong, and move forward; they watch some wither to the ground and others jump to the sky. Perhaps my business ideas may fail. But I won't. I'm going to keep moving.