Where I lived before, there was a woman who started cooking and selling food down the street. She started with just one warmer of food by the roadside. It was not much, but she was consistent, improved on her cooking skills, and even reinvested her profits into her business. In less than 3 months, she added more warmers of food per day. By the end of that year, she already got a shop and she incorporated other foods. And her business got bigger. By the time I left the neighborhood, she already had two shops and doing very well in the business. She started small, but she did not remain small. Your starting point should not affect how you will finish. A lot of people that have achieved greatness started very small, you too can.
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One of the reasons why some people never begin their journey towards success or towards what they want to achieve is because of the fear of starting small. They look at successful individuals, successful businesses, great achievements, and then feel discouraged because they think that their own point of starting is too insignificant. But what they fail to understand is that a lot of the great achievers you see today started small. The real danger is not actually in starting small, it is in remaining small. No tree starts as a tree, it starts as a seed, but grows over time.
You have to understand that starting small is not weakness, rather it is a necessary progress that you make. This is because it allows you to learn, gather extensive experience step by step, and then grow. As a matter of fact, when you start small, you will give yourself the room to make mistakes, learn from the mistakes, develop relevant skills, improve on the skills you already have, and understand the process without being overwhelmed by pressure. You may not notice it, but confidence and competence can be built from these humble beginnings. So what people see as small beginning is just a pathway to growth.
Many people delay taking actions on their dreams and on what they want to achieve because they are waiting for the perfect opportunity, or the perfect time, or the perfect moment, or even a better condition. But they fail to realise that, in more cases than none, perfection is only but mere illusion. Trust me, if you keep waiting, you may not even start at all. The very successful people you know did not wait until everything was perfect. They had to start with what they had and from where they were, and then improved along the way. What matters is that you are making improvement, not where you started from.
While it is acceptable to start small, you should also know that it is not acceptable to remain small. Staying small means that you have refused to grow, it also means that you have avoided challenges, and that you have become comfortable with minimal efforts. Which may also mean doing the same thing in the same way repeatedly without improving. This is actually where the real problem lies, not where you started from. Progress is not a function of where you began from, but a function of how you been consistent, your determination, perseverance, intentionality and the hard work you put.
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It is worthy to note that growth requires intentionality. After you have started, then you must be ready and willing to learn, adapt, and then push yourself beyond your current limit. This is how you grow. You also should be ready to welcome feedbacks, upgrade your skills, and then improve on your skills. Without having this mindset of growth, you may remain in your current level for long, and growth will become nonexistent.
You also need to avoid comparison and competition. You are not in a race with anyone. You do not know where someone else started from, so it will be unwise to compare against them or compare your steps with their own. You have to focus on your own journey and on what you want to achieve. You should also learn to celebrate your small wins, so that it will give you the motivation to be able to take more steps.
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