How did you go bankrupt?
Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.
Ernest Hemingway
1899 – 1961
I was having lunch out with my daughter a few weeks ago and I observed a man at a nearby table. He was obese. There’s no polite way to say it; he was extremely overweight and looked very unhealthy. I wondered how he could have allowed himself to get in that condition.
As I was thinking about that man, a woman was seated at a table near his. She was probably in her late forties and was very trim and impeccably dressed. She was the picture of success and carried herself with utmost confidence. I couldn’t help but wonder about the story behind her success.
These two people seemed to be at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of personal success and failure. As I thought more about them, I remembered Hemingway’s famous line. How does anything happen in life? “Gradually, then suddenly.”
The overweight man didn’t gain all that weight suddenly; it’s more likely he gained the weight over a number of years. I doubt that he just woke up one day and discovered he was obese. I feel certain that it happened gradually, too gradually to be alarming. But continued poor eating choices led to decreased mobility and other health issues, until the problems became too difficult to correct.
As for the apparently successful woman, I feel fairly certain that her success didn’t happen suddenly either. I feel confident that she invested lots of time and energy over a number of years preparing for her success. It was the result of small steps each and every day; doing small incremental things eventually brought about the success she was now enjoying.
So how does this apply to your life? For some people, there are sudden events that create dramatic change in their lives. But for most of us, it’s the small things we do daily that gradually lead us to our present state.
Take a look at where you are. Are you happy with your results in life? If not, realize that most people move very gradually in a specific direction, and you have the ability to change direction. The results probably won’t show up tomorrow. But keep doing the small everyday things that you know you should and gradually your life will change — and suddenly you’ll find you’re on the right path.
Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the every day things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon.
Booker T. Washington
1856 – 1915
Copyright © 2013 John Chancellor