Think big, take small steps

Those who think big are likely to reap big rewards. Dr. Uday Salunkhe, Group Director of Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Research and Development (WeSchool), echoes the advice given by the American minister and author, Norman Vincent Peale, “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” “Believe in yourself and dream big. Setting a goal is the first step in turning what is yet invisible into something visible. Take action towards the attainment of your goal to make your dream a reality,” recommends Dr. Uday Salunkhe. Without making an effort to move towards your goal, you will be nothing but a disillusioned goal-setter. One way to keep yourself motivated is by making your goal known. Conveying a goal to friends or co-workers can encourage you to realize it. Goals drive performance in an organisation. Having a shared goal increases employee motivation and mobilizes effort. Google and Amazon have hugely profited by accomplishing their lofty goals of ‘organising the world’s information’ and ‘becoming the everything-store’, respectively. However, anything great begins with one small step, be it space exploration or a successful startup. No matter how big a dream is or how ambitious a company, it has to start somewhere small. It’s true that big goals need big plans. But, these big plans can be daunting. Dividing them into smaller actionable steps can help you become organized, and make your journey to success more manageable and less overwhelming. Thinking big, thus, gives you the big picture of where you want to be with respect to where you are, whereas, small incremental actions can get you to where you want to be. Businesses can’t be sustained on a one-off grand gesture. There are hundreds of actions forward which the management must take for a business to grow and surpass itself. “Taking small steps can seem like a tedious process. Many of you will become disenchanted with it and want to quit mid-way. But, the tenacious ones will stick it out, taking pleasure in small victories and learning from their mistakes. And, in time, they will have accomplished great things,” Dr. Salunkhe tells Welingkarites, the students of WeSchool. Planning and executing small steps may appear a time-consuming approach to the impatient, but going big from the get-go will only rush the process and can cause a venture to fail. Taking small steps with a positive attitude, on the other hand, can create the momentum required for you to reach your goal. Let these small wins inspire you further but take care that you don’t let them go to your head, cautions Dr. Uday Salunkhe, “Don’t ever stop dreaming. It isn’t easy, but don’t stop after reaching the first rung on the ladder of success. Don’t get complacent, because it is only the beginning. Successful people never stop; they keep on working in spite of successes or failures. In fact, when they have a setback, they work with double the energy, enthusiasm, and passion and give their all to achieve a higher level of success.”