I’ve been reading “The Magic of Thinking Big,” by David J. Schwartz, PhD. This book was originally published in 1959, yet it is full of useful information that directly applies to today. It seems that the basics of success in life are the same no matter what time period one may be living in.
One illustration the author makes struck me as being right on the mark. In the past I have heard others give the advice to do something and not to put it off until things are perfect. Because, if you wait until every risk is eliminated it is highly likely that the project, the things you wish to do, will never happen. The more you put it off, the more “reasons” you will come up with that indicate more time to wait. By and by, it never even starts.
Knowing this as a fact still doesn’t make it any easier to get started on the ‘thing’ worth doing. The illustration Dr. Schwartz used was simple and it really put it in perspective for me. He said to suppose you want to drive from Chicago to Los Angeles. If you wait until you can be completely assured that there will be no road construction, no detours, no bad drivers, no bad weather, no problems of any kind, you would never start the trip. Of course it is a good idea to plan your trip out, to look at a map and, possibly, list the route you expect to take, but you need to actually get in the car and start driving before you have any chance of reaching your destination.
That made a lot of sense to me. This is an illustration I will follow in my own life and I will offer it to others as they need a bit of encouragement.
