Broken Mindset

First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. – Epictetus

I was in a conversation with my supervisor a few days back. When he called the meeting with me, I thought it was something about the team or our projects- it wasn’t. It was a simple light talk about starting something. He had big “entrepreneur” dreams he said. Probably something that would take a longer time of planning and study- but a street delicacy from his province caught his attention and he wanted to share it to the people here in Manila. So he wanted to start something that’s easy to start (small scale) and can be readily done (i.e. in his own kitchen).

His grand dreams probably doesn’t include selling a provincial delicacy- he’s a physics graduate and currently taking up masters in Technology Management, but there’s something in the humility in starting small and the urgency of starting now, that attracted me.

For instance, he said, “did you know that Samsung started out as a grocery store and then later entered the sugar industry?”  It wasn’t after several years (or was it decades?) that Samsung became who they are now. But they started with something.

I may miss a lot of details on the success stories of big names- but there’s something inside me that sounds right. You will never go wrong if you start small and start now. My supervisor said he might fail. The business idea might flop- so what? He said. At least he learned something new! I’m not saying it’s wise to jump to your nearest franchise company or you sell street food in your office now (although those are good starting points). What I’m saying is, many of us have this short term goal that have been sleeping so long at the back of our brain somewhere. Something we know, somehow, would work, but we’re just too scared to start. You did some research here and there, asked friends around and maybe even attended seminars. But it never happened- or rather, it never started.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. [Hebrews 11:1, NIV]

Maybe because we’re too scared to fail, or maybe we’re stricken by the “analysis-paralysis” syndrome. Maybe things aren’t clear yet for you. Something tells me that faith means doing something while everything is NOT YET clear. If this is so, then our decisions to go for something says a lot about our faith-specially the “who” part. Are you trusting your self so much? Your own bank account? Or something- or Someone bigger than yourself?

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine proposed to his girlfriend with 44 pesos in his bank account.It was one of his financial lows in his life. He prayed about this dream of being engaged with the woman God gave him (which was in itself another faith-story). He was able to get her a ring (no it ain’t silver, its the real deal). Something happens when people place their trust not on themselves but on God. I think it inspires you to be audacious; to act according to your faith. To somehow start something. You may start small- but heck, you can definitely start NOW. The conversation I had and the stories I heard inspired me to start small. Last month I made baby steps to achieving my dream career- more on that soon. But it is always the understanding that I am nothing- but with God, I am able to do things I have never even dreamed of doing – these thoughts keep me humble and inspired.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength [Philippians 4:13, NIV]

If you are the person who simply needed that small PUSH- then consider this post it.

 

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action, dreams, faith, Hebrews 11:1, inspiration, motivation, now, Philippians 4:13, start, trust