“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” ― Edward Everett Hale
Once upon a time, there was an old man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach every morning before he began his work. Early one morning, he was walking along the shore after a big storm had passed and found the vast beach littered with starfish as far as the eye could see, stretching in both directions. Off in the distance, the old man noticed a small boy approaching. As the boy walked, he paused every so often and as he grew closer, the man could see that he was occasionally bending down to pick up an object and throw it into the sea. The boy came closer still and the man called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?”
The young boy paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The tide has washed them up onto the beach and they can’t return to the sea by themselves,” the youth replied. “When the sun gets high, they will die, unless I throw them back into the water.”
The old man replied, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.”
The boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. Then he turned, smiled and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
As leaders, we all have the opportunity to create positive change in this world, starting with even just one person. If you feel anything like I used to feel, you find yourself thinking, “I’m already really busy, I don’t have the time and energy to make any difference!” If you find yourself thinking that way, it helps to remember this story. You might not be able to change the entire world, but at least you can change a small part of it, for someone, in some way.
One of the most common reasons we procrastinate the efforts that we know we need to do is because we see the challenge before us as too overwhelming. A good way to counter that mindset is to break the big challenges down into smaller pieces and then take those one at a time – Just like one starfish at a time. And to that one starfish, it can make a world of difference. Maybe your “starfish” is that employee that you see something special in. Or that friend that just needs a little encouragement. Or, maybe the starfish in your story is YOU! If you can contribute even just 1% of growth each day, that is 365x growth over the course of a year. 365x sounds intimidating. But does 1%? No… We can do that!
The first step is to identify what it is that you want to do. Once you have a plan of action, you can bring it to fruition. This will help you stay motivated and focused on your goals. As you start to see progress, you’ll be inspired to take it a step further. I promise!
By making a few simple changes in your life, you can make a big difference in the world. It all starts with just one life change. Let it multiply and manifest itself, and watch your impact grow.
We all know that it takes time and dedication to achieve success in life. But sometimes, it can be difficult to find the motivation to keep taking those small steps day after day. However, making even one small step each day can lead to big results in life change over time. Small steps daily will make a HUGE impact on our lives over time!