JOIN USI move forward in my life every day, even if it’s only a tiny step, because I know that great things are accomplished with tiny moves, but nothing is accomplished by standing still,” observed Zig Ziglar, the accomplished late American author of several best-selling books, including ‘Staying up, up, up in a down, down world’.
Study and examination of many of the world’s most accomplished men also point to this very philosophy of constantly moving ahead, at the core of their model.
Contrarily a close scrutiny of men who never reach their full potential reveals the common habit of failing to make consistent moves, choosing to remain stagnant.
While no one wants to remain stagnant, only very few among us take the necessary steps that are required to move forward.
This is primarily due to the fact that to keep moving takes effort.
There is a price to be paid in stretching. An extra energy, an ounce of determination and tons of sweat need to be applied and shed in the process of progress.
A good majority among us unfortunately settle to remain in our comfortable valleys than to take those tiny steps to climb the mountain, despite the panoramic view that awaits us at the top.
Among the secondary reasons cited by experts, in choosing to be stagnant, the foremost is the fear of failure that forever cripples man. No man wants to fail.
Being looked upon as a failure is far more humiliating than to be looked upon as lazy.
So, patting ourselves to be prudent in keeping away from failure, we go about our lives never giving it the best and taking those tiny moves necessary to live a life of substance.
But as Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid revolutionary who was South Africa's first black chief executive and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election, would say, “We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. We are born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone, and as we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Susan Jeffers, author of ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway’, said it in lesser words, “We cannot escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us on all our exciting adventures. Take a risk a day - one small or bold stroke that will make you feel great once you have done it.”