Beginning is Half Done~Paralysis of Analysis~Don't Despise Small Beginnings

Small beginnings....

We planted a garden on Sunday.....well...actually the Amazing Mr. Brintnall planted it....I stood by and cheered him on!

We planted lettuce seeds....they were so, so small....

Yesterday....only 4 days after being put in the soil, a few of those seeds turned into green spots in the dirt...they were only green spots, but hey....they were green....and they weren't there the day before! If you look closely, you can see them.....

The appearance of those tiny green spots made me think of these words~~~

Do not despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin. 

~Zechariah 4:10 NLT

We rejoice when the work is done, but the Lord rejoices to see the work begin! 

Begin!

I remember hearing Robert Schuller (remember him---He was like the John Maxwell before John Maxwell?) say this years ago and it really stuck with me~

Beginning is half done.

What ideas and projects do you have on the inside of you that you haven't begun?
Maybe you've been putting off beginning because the tasks seem monumental....out of your league....too long term....just plain complicated?

It's good to always be able to see the BIG PICTURE---the END GOAL---and have the VISION---but sometimes the size of the PICTURE, GOAL, and VISION stops us in our tracks. Yes, Visualize what you want to accomplish......but don't get frozen in the PARALYSIS of ANALYSIS. 

You can sit and think and figure and graph and plot and chart and think some more and think some more and think some more until you finally think yourself right out of doing anything!

My father, who started a thriving business in the 1940's, and is one of the smartest men I know (along with the Amazing Mr. Brintnall) once told me ~ "There will never be a good time to do ANYTHING."

What he meant was that the conditions will NEVER BE PERFECT.

If you are looking for the perfect conditions, you'll never find them...

There's never a good time to have a baby...you could always have a bigger house, a nicer car, more money in the bank....

There's never a good time to start a business....you could always have more capital, more clients, more connections....

There's never a good time to make that move to another city or state.....there's always one more relative alive who is depending on you, one more holiday you want to spend with the family, one more vacation you want to take in that part of the country....

There's never a good time to change careers.....there's that seniority you've finally achieved,  the familiarity you already have at the office, and the bad situation in your current job that you're aware of...you figure is better than a bad situation you're not aware of....

Sometimes you just have to DO IT.  TAKE A STEP AND BEGIN!  Here's a plan that's pretty simple~

• Pray 
• Educate yourself about the endeavor
• Write a plan
• Make a list of resources needed
• Communicate with people who can contribute to the project
• Track your progress
• Take a step
• Take another step
• Take another step
• Repeat the last three steps

Our lettuce seeds have grown OVERNIGHT from just a few tiny spots to a whole lot of tiny spots...

But if we hadn't gotten the soil ready, bought the seeds, put them in the ground, and watered them, we wouldn't have any tiny green spots today.....soon we'll have lettuce....but we had to begin the process!

Don't despise small beginnings....just begin. 

If you were encouraged by this blog, please share it!

I'll blog you next week, and in the meantime...do something today to fulfill your purpose!