The Little Man!

   “Somebody said that it couldn’t be done

      But he with a chuckle replied

   That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one

      Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.

 So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin

      On his face. If he worried he hid it.

   He started to sing as he tackled the thing

                                               That couldn’t be done, and he did it!

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;

      At least no one ever has done it;”

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat

      And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,

      Without any doubting or quiddit,

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

      That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

      There are thousands to prophesy failure,

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

      The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,

      Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing

      That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.”

-Edgar A. Guest

I love, love, love this poem! So simple, yet so profound and amazing. (Apparently most of the pieces or quotes or even songs I often fall in love with are the ones I randomly stumble on.) 

The Little Man either within us or without is the figure or figment that cannot seem to comprehend anything bigger than it; dreams, goals, plans, achievements...you name it. The Little Man constantly thinks "I can't" "this is too big" "whoa! Really?" "Ah, thats not for me...let those other smarter people do it". The Little Man only perceives things that are within its imagination and cannot dare to dream or think big. The Little Man comfortably surrounds itself amongst other Little Men that are like minded in small thinking to make all seem normal and within its grasp. 

Sometimes we are faced with a task or challenge that is connected to our ultimate goal  in whatever aspect of life and are so quick to throw our hands up and say "ugh I can’t" when we haven’t even tried. I know I’ve been guilty of this until I began to see things from a different perspective. Think about it...if you channeled the same amount of energy you do in doubting yourself or your capabilities into getting the task done or perhaps believing in yourself, you'll be surprised at how much more you can accomplish! Just dive into it! Trust me, I've learned.

Your mind can only do one thing at a time or focus on one thing. So you cannot doubt yourself or keep saying "I can't" and then actually be able to move forward or do anything.

Why say you can't when you haven't even tried? 

As Elon Musk says "If something is important enough, you would try even though the result might be failure"

Just try.

Maybe the task is seemingly too big, too hard or difficult, maybe it can't be done, maybe the world would end if you tried (okay, I'm just being dramatic here), but how would you know if you don't try? Take one step at a time, compartmentalize if you can and break it up into little parts...before you know it, the whole is formed. Even the mightiest oceans are made up of small drops of water.

So perhaps you might want to take a conscious look around at the people you are surrounded by. Are they constantly telling you it can’t be done or it’s unrealistic or that dream is too big, even though it’s jokingly or in a teasing way? Are they in some way, “the Little Man” that you’re trying to run away from? 

Or if you strongly believe that “The Little Man” is present in your life in some way, maybe, just maybe if you looked around and everyone was cheering you on, believing in you and giving you all the support in the world that you needed but you just feel like it can’t be done or it’s just too big to be done,  then perhaps you should take a look in the mirror, The Little Man might be just be you. 

Get rid of The Little Man!

Have a great day! x