move big things

(note circa: June 2017) 
​
There’s a story about a farmer who shocked village visitors when they saw him easily lift a huge cow.
His secret?
Every day since the cow was born, he’d lift it from the ground and hold it.
His strength grew in step with the cow’s weight.

I think about this story all of the time.
#dorkconfessions

What gets me about it?

Well, while I get frustrated at times I’m not where I think I should be, I remember that I don’t have the strength to hold a cow that size yet.

Many who rocket positively one way or another often zipzoom back down when the initial momentum dies or the fuel source fades.

Mindset, emotional strength, hard skills, and a foundation seem to need to match the acceleration and size of the rocket.

Furthermore, I’m reminded that I won’t wake up one day with a little bottle under my pillow filled with a magic potion that will suddenly give me beyonce-sized cow-lifting mojo.

I have to fill that bottle every day myself.
Drop by drop.

One of my favorite concepts is future self v. present self.
It’s ridiculously easy to say ‘Oh, next time, I’ll do this differently or better.’
Uhm sorry, you’ll be the same person, with the same will power, with the same excuses unless you actively do something in the interim to grow or change.

If I want to be able to do big things, I have to do little things.
When those get easy, I have to do medium things.
Which is hard and uncomfortable.
But is necessary in pursuit of the big things.
Which will also be hard and uncomfortable.

If I’m not uncomfortable, I’m probably kidding myself about something.

Which reminds me,
This is probably just a story about Pennsylvania.
And how much I love farms.
And miss cows.