(Photo courtesy Esparta)

Following is an except from a VVS Laxman interview soon after India’s epic test victory over Australia.

Q: Frankly, how confident were you when Ishant Sharma walked in at the fall of the eighth wicket, on 124?
A: Wasn’t thinking too far ahead, wasn’t really thinking of the target, 216… Ishant and I decided to set small goals, decided to look at building the partnership with 10-run bricks.

Focusing on small goals is one of the guiding principles of Personal Kaizen. Smaller goals are a surer path to success to most of us due to two reasons:

• it makes the overall goal less daunting
• and thus makes the natural human resistance to change & action that much more surmountable

In this case, India’s daunting task was scoring 93 runs with 2 tail-ender’s support against a spirited Australian pace attack. Laxman broke it down to 10-run bricks that would’ve sounded so much more achievable for either Ishant or Ojha …not to mention Laxman himself.

“The secret of getting started is breaking your complex, overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”
– Mark Twain

Every success (wall) is built one small goal (brick) at a time. Focus on that one brick for your action planning & act on it. What is your next brick? 

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Related Posts:

• Personal Kaizen Channel: Personal Kaizen Principles
• Personal Kaizen Channel: The Next Step

(Photo courtesy darijus)

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer/contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family. He would miss the pay check, but he needed to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favour. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you." What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized, we would have done it differently.

Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Who could say it more clearly? Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.