Daily Inspiration: “In the absence of clarity, taking initiative today is significantly better than finding a perfect plan tomorrow!”

“In the absence of clarity, taking initiative today is significantly better than finding a perfect plan tomorrow!” – Futurist  Jim Carroll

‘’ I had a conversation with a good friend who is struggling with how to align his long term thinking to some pretty significant challenges. Where does he start? How does he stay focused? What should he do. He’s sometimes pretty overwhelmed simply by the scale of the long term challenge.

That’s why rather than thinking long term, it’s often best simply to do what is important today. Focus on the small steps, and accomplish the key goals of the moment, rather than letting the complex goals of tomorrow scare you into inaction.

On stage, I’ll often close my keynotes with my key phrase, “Think BIG, start small, scale fast!” The key element in today’s quote is that ‘start small’ component.
If you have a good idea of where you need to go, but imprecise information on what you need to do to get there, then simply start taking a whole series of small steps to help to get you going in the right direction! That’s something, at least!

When I’m in front of a few thousand people, I can see that the concept in that phrase resonates – people are writing it down, tweeting it, and nodding to each other. Why? It’s all too easy to become overwhelmed by the scope of the challenge, which can cause people to freeze with action paralysis. Starting small gives us a way out!

So today?
Just do what needs to be done today!
Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow!’’