We live in times of unprecedented change. What was considered pure science fiction some twenty years ago is now a reality.
Human race is by nature never satisfied. We have unending hunger for innovation, change and experiment. That is why creativity and knowledge are considered the most important traits.
Every day you have a new application or service available in the market. And surprisingly, many of these apps. and services manage to pull it off and make a name for themselves.
Are all Big successes that smooth?
You will find people saying: “It is not that difficult to come up with a new killer app; all it takes is having a brilliant idea and thinking out of the box. Then you just have to find a Freelance developer, release it and BOOM..there you are..relaxing on a beach!
Delighted? Don’t be! Let’s keep our feet on the ground for a moment and agree that success is not as easy as people and the case studies make it look. Yet, most people are convinced that as long as they have an idea (which they believe to be brilliant) they can achieve stardom and success.
The well known notion “thoughts become things” publicized by dozen of self-help writers in past few decades, has led people into believing that they can become whatever they imagine. They don’t follow a line of reasoning and get carried away by the thought.
Wishful thinking leads people to lose grip over reality and fantasize. For instance, many people quote Steve Jobs’ life and say: “You know he started Apple from his garage, right? And retired a billionaire.” Or “how about the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg? He became a self-made billionaire at 23. Must be easy.”
A Big Idea Does Not Guarantee Success!
Ever since childhood we tend to dream into big time success. We enthusiastically try and picture things like, “I want to be the first person who achieved abc.” Or, “I want to be the youngest person who did xyz.”
Similarly, does having a big idea alone guarantees business success? The answer is NO.
There is another harmful side to thinking Big, especially when you really mean it. When you’re not just indulging in imagination but actually drumming up a real desire. Big goals require big effort, big courage, and big sacrifice. Much, much bigger than what it seems in the beginning.
You never know how many days of practice and persistence is put behind all those success stories you hear, you never know how many risks are involved, how many failures are encountered along the way, how many distractions life brings, how many justifications for giving up your mind can invent, and how many times you’ll have no one but yourself for consolation and support.
To be fair and practical, “thinking big” always may well come back to bite you. You have to understand when the phase of DREAMING ends and ACTION begins.
It’s delusional to believe that you can change the world before you’ve worked yourself into a position that makes it possible for you to do so.
Understand that reality can be felt by the senses. It is not something you feel in your ideas. Real life is action, results and failures spiced up with few successes in between, to keep you motivated. Enjoying that small success should not be belittled by big goals and tall expectations.
Life is not meant to be desolate and lonely but to work hard and celebrate both failure and success. The first gives you experience and the second gives you USD $. Both are valuable in life and required.
Don’t worry much about the big goals that are daunting, but move ahead firmly with a little progress everyday. A simple Hindi proverb that sums this up is Boond Boond se ghara bharta hain which translates as: ”The Cup of Knowledge is Filled One Drop at a Time”.
