25th February 2011
The power of small improvements
Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
Henry Ford
I do a lot of mentoring these days and this gives me an opportunity to meet a cross section of people who have many ambitions in their life. I come across people who achieve great things in life. Many of them ask me one question: how hard should I work? How many hours should I work? How many hours should I sleep?
One simple idea I give them is the power of small improvements in life. Great achievement is not an overnight event. It is the result of small but continuous improvement. Have you seen a banyan tree growing? Just because it is going to be very big tree, it does not grow faster than an ordinary tree. It also grows at the same pace like any other tree. A thousand mile road is laid at the rate of a few feet at a time.
Let me take the issue of changing a habit which we find it difficult to change. One student came to be with the question: I get up at 8 am everyday that I want to change. On the days I forcefully wake up at 6 am, I find the whole day is lost. Tell me how to get up at 6 am?
I told him to set an alarm clock to go at 7.55 am and get up five minutes early for a week. Next week he will get up at 7.50 am and 7.45 am the week after next. Last week I met the person in a seminar and I was pleased to know from him that for the past six months he has been consistently getting up at 5 am and jogging!
Small is not only beautiful, but also possible!
N C Sridharan
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