The Colonel Sanders Approach: Small Steps for Big Results

“It's better to go slowly in the right direction than to go speeding off in the wrong direction." - Simon Sinek

Steve Carell didn't have his first breakthrough as an actor until he landed a role on The Daily Show at age 40.

Sheryll Crow, despite beginning her music career in elementary school, didn't produce her first hit until she was 31.

Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC didn't open his first store until age 62 when most of us are considering retirement.

We read about these people on Wikipedia and we think, "Wow. What a glamorous life. Everything just worked out for them."

But what we don't see is what these successful people were doing before they were successful.

Unless we read the fine print, we miss the fact that Colonel Sanders was an insurance salesman for years and that he sold fried chicken on the side of the road during The Great Depression.

We miss the fact that Sheryll Crow's first album was rejected by her label.

We miss all the auditions where Steve Carell got looked over for a funnier guy.

What, on the surface, appears to be an instant success, in reality, took years of small steps in the right direction.

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is believing that we need to see "instant success" if we are to pursue our own dreams.

But, oftentimes, success doesn't come until years later.

Therefore, if you expect immediate success, and then don't get it, you'll likely give up too soon.

And, if you give up, you'll never know what could have been.

As workplace thought leader, Simon Sinek, says, "it's better to go slowly in the right direction than to go speeding off in the wrong direction."

What did Steve Carell, Sheryl Crow, and Colonel Sanders do when they experienced years of uncertainty?

They stayed, unwavering on their path, taking small steps towards their dream.

They didn't close the book on their dreams and settle for a fallback career.

So, what does this mean for us?

This means we must first choose our direction, then take consistent small steps down that path.

It's not the velocity towards our goals that matters.

It's more important that we're heading the right way.

Big dreams aren't accomplished overnight.

Just like a sand castle is built with a million tiny grains of sand...

our dreams are built by taking a million tiny steps over the course of years.

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Thanks for Reading!

Brendan

P.S. My wife, Pema Sherpa, and I have another blog called The Mindful Minute! Check it out.