Start Small, Think Big

Remember when you were asked to write compositions about “a meaningful experience” as young students? You would write about how you overcame hardship and unpleasantness in order to help others. You learned then that there was more to life than earning lots of money and living in comfort.

It’s easy to lose sight of the greater meaning in our life when running our business and making time for our family and friends.   【小题1】

Rank our values. Many people are successful, but people who live lives of real significance actually think about and work for others instead of just collecting wealth. They’re getting involved in ordinary activities that make a difference to others or fulfill a need in their communities. 【小题2】The hard work they put in helping others is reflecting the values that are most meaningful to them.

Think locally. People who live significant lives don’t necessarily jet around on airplanes going to so-called extraordinary events and board meetings. 【小题3】That could mean creating a great employment environment for a dozen people, raising funds for a cancer charity, or volunteering in a local school district. The key is that your actions are in agreement with your values and you are committed to making a positive difference.

【小题4】     Donate your old clothes and books to children in poor areas. Join a volunteering project. Help set up a waste bin for used batteries in your building. Hand out leaflets to your neighbors on how to protect themselves in the growing air pollution.

【小题5】 We’re giving more than we’re taking away and making them better because of it. when people say “I like myself best when I’m with you, and you know you’re making the world a better place,” you’re living a life of significance.

Whenever you see a tiny, uninhabited (无人居住的) tropical island, you will see a coconut (椰子) tree there, standing tall. How did it get there? It made an unlikely journey through a truly tough environment. It doesn’t have a map or a GPS, nor does it have a sail or an engine, but that little coconut contains within it everything it needs to make its journey.

Water is required to sprout (发芽) when the coconut gets to the new shore. On its journey it will be surrounded by water, but it can’t use that salt water, so the coconut packs its own sweet water. The coconut’s husk (外壳) provides flotation and protection through the journey and it sticks out of the water just enough to catch the wind and act like a sail.

With great courage the coconut sets off for an unknown destination. Falling from the tree, it gets bounced around in the surf. Again and again it tries to get out into the open ocean, and once it does, it starts catching the wind, catching the ocean currents and it is on its way.

In the middle of this vast ocean, with huge waves, the little coconut shows no fear. We build huge ships, but when a storm comes, those ships head to the nearest port until the storm passes. Not the small coconut. With each wave it goes up and with each wave it will tumble down. That storm has been harnessed to help it on its way. Then one day with a high tide it gets washed up onto a new shore. Quietly it puts down its roots and grows strong and tall.

The coconut makes the most of what it has. It grasps each opportunity without hesitation and finds its niche, the place where it can be. We also have the essentials we need to find our niche. We just need to make use of our courage and find a place within us where we can be at ease with ourselves.

Stained glass artists create different designs by making cuts on the glass to “score” it and then breaking off the pattern that they want to use in the finished product. The most difficult cut in stained glass is called an inside cut. Basically, it’s a curved line where you throw away the part inside of the curve. The problem with inside cuts is that the edges of the curve tend to break off when the pieces of scored glass are broken apart.

As the artist talked about inside cuts, he said, “The glass will break into pieces if you try to cut too much off at once. The best way to do an inside cut is to slice off smaller curves piece-by-piece. In fact, it’s not just the best way lo do it, but it’s the only way to do it.”

How many times do you try to make a big change and cut the entire piece at once? We convince ourselves that we can do this all the time. We’ll commit to transforming our diet overnight or we get inspired to launch a business in a weekend or we finally get motivated to work out and push ourselves to the edge of burning out.

Why not approach your goals and dreams like a stained glass artist? Starting by slicing a shallow curve and breaking a small piece off, you cut a slightly deeper curve and break that off until you have your full inside cut. By slowly cutting deeper and deeper curves, you prevent the glass from breaking as it change shape.

Of course, change isn’t easy — no mailer how you do it. Slow gains are boring, but if we keep making small improvements, then pretty soon we will end up with a beautiful masterpiece on our hands instead of a bunch of broken pieces.