There is No Wall, Just a Brick

“‘I’m gonna lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid,’ and you do that every single day, and soon you have a wall.” – Will Smith

Having a grand vision is good. It helps you to place a line in the sand far ahead of you with the goal of making it there some day. Keeping it in the back of your mind can be motivating, but it is not enough to achieve your goals. Talking, thinking, or dreaming about your goal will not move you any closer to it. Focusing on small achievements will. You build a wall brick by brick.

The Great Pyramid of Giza, the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient world, was built with an estimated 2.3 million stones, completed sometime between 2560 BCE and 2540 BCE¹. We would wager a guess that there were naysayers, but it still exists today. There were hundreds of thousands of castles built across Europe². The Great Wall of China spans 13,171 miles (21,196 kilometers)³. None of these structures were built in a day. All were born of a vision, but constructed brick by brick (or stone by stone).

We are not building pyramids (but if you are, then we are rooting for you!). That said, the goals in life are much the same. Grand visions which can only be accomplished by daily actions. To get fit requires regular workouts. To become a better person requires daily commitment. Financial goals take time and planning to accomplish. Dream big dreams, but then focus on the one single brick and lay it perfectly.

Action: Take one of the tasks you need to accomplish this week (wall), break it into bricks (little tasks) then lay each brick perfectly (complete each little task).

Hint: If the task is bigger than one week, the same approach applies.

Further Reading:

1. How long did it take to build the Great Pyramid?
2. Which country has the most castles?
3. Great Wall of China