Carrying away the stones

byAllynBeekman

2.2K followers

11 years ago

For the last several weeks we've had a small pile of broken bricks and mortar pieces in the backyard. They were the result of knocking out our fireplace mantel as part of a much larger remodeling plan.

Since we are limited on what we can dispose of each week due to the size of our trash can, we've been getting rid of the debris by placing a little bit of it into the trash can each week. This means perhaps 3-4 bricks and a few handfuls of the broken pieces plus some of the "dust".

Building a Business

I've seen a good number of posts that relate to the idea of building our businesses or attacking a problem little by little, bit by bit. In fact, just this past week or previous week someone blogged about achieving small successes (sorry I can't remember off the top of my head who it was).

One quote I have enjoyed seeing regularly is what DavyRobot (David Knight) writes at the end of each of his posts - he leaves us with, "And remember Rome wasn't built in a day ... but they were laying bricks everyday!"

So why do I talk about this? Well, every once in a while this business gets the best of me. It pushes me down and even makes me reconsider some of my strategies. This has been true for me the past few weeks.

Remembering that success is built on my day-by-day efforts helps lift me back up. I know that losing one day or two days or even a week won't eliminate the possibility of success in the future.

Removing a Mountain

Last week I was involved in a strategic planning session for a new non-profit organization. In my role as Board Chairman for this fledgling non-profit I asked one of our board members, who is well-versed in strategic thinking, to lead the session. He did a wonderful job of guiding us through our first session.

During the session he included a quote I hadn't seen previously. It went like this:

"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." (Confucius)

This quote focuses on removing an obstacle in front of us, or accomplishing a major task, by breaking it down into manageable pieces. It's similar to what we've had to do with the brick and mortar debris.

There will always be mountains in front of us as we attempt to build an internet marketing business. I try to keep in mind that each little step of progress is part of removing one of those mountains. It helps me realize my task can be accomplished.

So, if you are stuck right now or feeling like things aren't going as you had planned, and success seems to be a bit more elusive than you expected, remember that you are making progress. Keep carrying away the stones!