"Tiny strokes fell mighty oaks." That's one of the many sayings that Benjamin Franklin published in his Poor Richard's Almanack. This one carries a useful message about the power of repetition. It takes a lot of individual strokes to cut oak wood — as I learned all too well many years ago when I made a coffee table out of oak. Each stroke doesn't seem like much, but many strokes of the saw add up eventually.
The same is true in life. When I was writing my dissertation many years ago, I committed myself to writing at least one paragraph a day. You can use tiny strokes to achieve your own goals--losing 10 pounds, building a network of positive relationships, whatever you want to do. Even if what you want to achieve is not easily measured in individual increments, such as paragraphs or pounds, incremental progress will make a difference. If you want to land a better job, doing the little things to get you there — learning, networking, etc. — move you along the road to success.
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