Do Not Stop

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. -- Confucius

How many of you have ever tried to push a car? I think everyone would agree that the toughest part is getting the beast rolling. We've all experienced the grueling, football lineman stance of heave-ho that it takes to finally get it rolling forward (or backward). But once it has started, it really does not take all that much effort to keep it rolling, does it?

There are scientific reasons that help explain the kenetics, gravity, and other physics around it all, but suffice to say, it is clear that once the car is rolling, it doesn't really matter how fast you push, just that you don't let it stop.

Life can be that way at times, especially when we are facing extraordinary tasks. We can often become overwhelmed when we consider the distance we have to go to reach our goals. The temptation is to just stop and rest rather than keep pushing.

Confucius nailed it on the head (as he often did) when he noted that it really does not matter how slow you go, just don't stop.

As a musician, speaker, and writer, facing the daunting task of getting the message/music out seems like a long distance to go. Just as soon as I finish with one challenging task, the next one rears its head. Often I find myself surprised by budget impacts, slow periods, or just sheer exhaustion. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and to just stop moving forward.

Instead of just stopping, it would seem that the trick is to just do something small and accomplishable. If I am working on a huge and daunting project, I try to do something that I can handle in 30 minutes, or an hour that moves the project forward. If I don't have the budget to send out 10 promotional packets, I send out one. If I don't have any money to send anything out, then I work on my website, compose a song, or write a blog entry.

The point it would seem is to never let the goal overwhelm you. Just keep moving, keep pushing, keep going, one step at a time.