“Nothing is particularly hard,” said Henry Ford, “if you divide it into small jobs.”  He showed American industry how to make this idea work with the assembly line.

A well-known mountain climber, when asked the most difficult part of climbing a mountain was, said, “taking the first step.”

Whether you’re building thousands of cars, climbing a tall mountain, building a business or anything else that you attempt to do, the process can seem staggering until you break it down into small jobs.  These small jobs result in a series of small, logical steps, each building on the previous one.  Taking steps, one at a time and in correct sequence, almost always results in success.

But wait!  Don’t start building that car or business yet.  Don’t start up the mountain.  Otherwise you might build a car that doesn’t work.  A business that fails.  Or fall into a crevice on the side of the mountain.  If we take our lesson from Henry Ford and the mountain climber, we discover that both of them developed a plan and a schedule.

Before starting on a project or adventure, research and thoughtful planning is needed.  Determine where you are at and where you want to end up.  Then decide how you are going to get there.  Then you have a path to begin walking down, a step at a time.  You may want to proceed slowly, enjoying the scenery along the way.  Or if you anxious to get there or perhaps time is of the essence, you can go down that path quickly, always remembering to take it one step at a time in the correct sequence.