How to eat an elephant … dealing with big challenges

My very wise big sister shared this concept with me.  It was during a time when I had a lot on my plate – big mountains indeed.

She told me a story about her daughter.  As a little girl she was faced with a lot to do – homework, projects and more. My sister asked her young daughter and how she would eat an elephant.  The answer is simply – bite by bite.  I know that so many times in my life I have been faced with an enormous elephant sized challenge and sometimes I simply can’t figure out where to start.  Then I remember the elephant and break it down into bite-sized chunks.

I have recently started a new job and believe me, after a couple of days I realised I was facing an elephant.  So much to learn with so many different aspects to the job.  I am not quite finished eating this particular elephant, but I have broken the challenges down into smaller chunks and in many cases smaller tasks again.

The first split was to figure out what was urgent and had to be done.  Then look at those tasks that would make a real difference and then finally some of the tasks and marketing ideas that are great, but can wait.

Unpacking my house, dealing with my health and many other challenges are always easier bite sized.

Thank you Janet for teaching me this valuable lesson, which I use in so many parts of my life.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this Wednesday’s quotation.

Kerry x