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Make No Small Plans

Posted on | January 7, 2009 | 1 Comment

Make No Small PlansEvery new year we’re always bound and determined to set resolutions from great to small. It’s like this clock that resets in our heads and hearts as well as on the calendar. We do a mental inventory of where we are and where we would like to go. Sometimes it’s depressing. Sometimes it’s the kick in the seat of the pants we need. Thank goodness for new years.

I hear and read the phrase all the time, “New Year, New You,” but often I wonder “Am I really all that bad right now?” After all, needing a complete life makeover is a little drastic wouldn’t you say? I’d prefer not to run totally away from who I am or who I’ve become and rather honor who I have always been but perhaps dig a little deeper to come out just a little better. Not necessarily all out NEW, but definitely improved.

But even though we must take baby steps to reach our goals, or, we have to crawl before we walk, we still must think big. We have to create a grander vision for our lives and what we can do.

Michael Port, author of The Think Big Manifesto (Wiley, May, 2009) and founder of The Think Big Revolution, consistently says as one of his catch phrases, “We must think bigger about who we are and what we offer the world.” I believe one of the reasons he’s so successful at inspiring his core audience is that he has an ardent approach to life.

In his latest book, Port says, “Death is a destination we all share, like it or not. ‘Time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think,’ as Randy Pausch wrote. Would you rather think small, succumb to a wasteful subexistence, living others’ lives? Would you rather play it safe? You might just as well bury yourself early–or how about now? So what if someone makes fun of you? So what if someone tells you that you’re crazy to even try? So what if in fact you do fail?”

Exactly. So what if you fail? Fail better next time.

Life doesn’t wait. There really are no do overs. Remember, once upon a time you knew what you really wanted out of life. Get back in touch with those dreams, those plans, those goals, those wishes. Remember those silent tugs at your heart or those daydreaming thoughts that often keep you from doing a task at hand.

Besides the top regular resolutions we so often make (like lose weight, quit smoking, spend more time with family or friends, get out of debt, etc.), we have to get in touch with our inner ambition. Why? Because in a way, it’s our purpose…our calling…some would even say our destiny.

A prayer I often silently whisper was actually authored by Oprah Winfrey. She said, “Use me God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.”

I find no better way of saying it than that.

Think big. Dream big. Love big. Plan big. Do big things. Small plans will always be a part of our lives, but holding bigger things in your heart and mind will keep all those necessary small things going…and with purpose.

“Make no small plans for they have no power to stir your soul.”     – Anonymous

Make it a great big luscious year….

All my love,

Kelley Taylor

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
- Teddy Roosevelt


Category: Live
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Comments

One Response to “Make No Small Plans”

  1. SusanS
    January 8th, 2009 @ 10:20 am

    Hi Kelley,
    I enjoy reading your blog now and again. Hope you are doing well. I would love to hear from you and what you are up to.
    Best,
    Susan Sullivan

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