The.Sum.Of.Small.Efforts

I came across this picture while randomly browsing the web. Although it is from a fitness blog I think it also applies to the attainment of success and the pursuit of happiness. The message behind it had quite a profound impact on me and inspired me to write this article. The most interesting part of this quote is the usage of the words ‘every morning’ (I’ll explain later). 

How does this apply to our lives as humans and what can we learn from this lesson of the lion and the gazelle? Allow me to digress for a minute.

When talking about success we often come across words like ‘big break’ or ‘waiting for a sign’ or other phrases that indicate one event that leads to success and ultimately to happiness. There is a huge misconception that success stems from one isolated incident or big break. 

When the story of the lion and gazelle is analysed we come to realize that these 2 animals on a daily basis do things to achieve happiness. Failure by one of the animals on any day either means no food or no tomorrow. The reason people give up sometimes is because they tend to look at how far they still have to go. When you’re driving at night your lights only shine to a certain distance. This doesn’t cause you to turn the car around because you can’t see the destination. You take it a few metres at a time until you reach your destination.

Whatever your future goals you need to understand that in order to achieve them you must, on a daily basis, do things which will bring you closer to that goal. Don’t lose hope because you can’t see results or you seem to be in the same place you were last year or 2 years prior. The truth is if you keep going you will see results.  The title of this article was derived from a quote by Robert Collier; ‘Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out...’

The small day to day efforts must become habitual to a point where they are second nature. The key words are: ‘every morning’, ‘day to day’ etc. I know someone is thinking what if it’s raining on this day, or it is not practicable or I feel a bit sick.  The decision is yours, you know how bad you want to achieve your goals. If you make half hearted attempts you will get half hearted results besides:

“You can’t get much done in life if you only work on the days when you feel good”