Core Values: Three Steps to Being Action Oriented and Achieving the Big-Slow Dream
Imagine reaching a level where every action taken is totally productive and efficient. Whatever task was undertaken, great results were achieved. Life is good, not a care in the world! Wait a minute, that’s Disney World! In actuality, only at select times are these high levels of productivity and efficiency reached and that’s for those that are at the top levels. In general, Leo Tolstoy has the right idea, “True life is lived when tiny changes occur.”
A song titled Dream Small goes against the norm. A lot of research needs to take place to find a top motivational speaker agreeing with the theme of this song. The lyrics include having big dreams, but none of that happens until the small ones become a reality. So many people, including myself, start with the big dream that ends up stalling because of overwhelm and the lack of significant progress taking place.
A better description for the dream big idea is to “dream slow.” My personal inspiration to try a graduate Masters program came about nine years after undergrad. Actually starting the course work took at least another two years. Add another nine years to begin the Ph.D. program. The slow dream to complete a full 140.6 triathlon took 20 years. The dilemma here is the dreams were both big and slow so the new invented Dr. Dan term is the big-slow dream.
Is there any such thing as an overnight success? Maybe you are exposed to a whole slew of unique people, but of the hundreds of successful people I’ve studied and read about, the common satirical statement in one way or another is, “Sure… I’m a 10-year overnight success.” Reality can be harsh, but when a big-slow dream is achieved, deep satisfaction and appreciation arise, but none of it happens without the first step.
The first step to taking action is to start with a small dream that is measurable and achievable. A key part of this is completing something in a reasonable time to give some momentum and encouragement to proceed to the next step. The small dream is one of Tolstoy’s tiny, but significant changes that is part of accomplishing the big-slow dream.
The second step is recognizing that an “imperfect done” is much better than a masterpiece that isn’t. The reason is, there is no perfect masterpiece and even if there was, it has to be finished to be displayed. Every once in a while some outlier product or performance arises that seemingly is perfect. However, the feeling of the accomplishment being perfect is rarely determined by the author or originator of the work. The conclusion of doing excellent may have occurred, but certainly not a work or performance of perfection.
When a masterpiece does emerge, it may not be recognized until the creator has died and after numerous failures and inferior works had been done. The conclusion, instead of trying to be perfect, do the best with what is available at the time and get something done. Whatever is created can certainly be improved, but the best improvements are made by multiple exposures and upgrades to an already finished product.
The third step is keep track of progress being made especially when it’s slow. Celebrate the victories along the way and learn from the defeats. Done consistently, this leads to developing systems and processes that can be formalized to increase productivity. An overall forward movement is the objective, because once the perception arises that the big-slow dream is beyond reach, the will to finish is greatly hindered.
The dream of going to Disney World for most people happens after much saving, planning, and waiting that all take time. The big dream that finally happens was really slow to come about, but the anticipation of getting there was actually fun at times.
Likewise, people undertaking a big-slow dream remain persistent because of the anticipation of the great reward of achieving it. The right big-slow dream also has inherent aspects that make the journey a learning experience and fulfilling as well. Are there any guarantees for success? Certainly not, but better to have tried and failed than to never know if it could have happened. Dream big… but slowly.
