I’ve always enjoyed the quote, “if it is to be, it’s up to me.” This implies that if you want something done, you have to take action to put yourself in the position to get it. YOU have the power to change your life. It may take a while, and it may never come to fruition, but it will NEVER happen if you don’t do something about it. But this quote is very self-centered and, in my eyes, incomplete.
Recently, I read one of Gary Keller’s books and he modifies the quote slightly to, “If I want it to be, it starts with me.” At first, I didn’t think anything of it. It is changed a little from the initial quote, but I attributed the change more to an accidental misquote – almost like how the message always seems to change just a little from person-to-person when playing a game of telephone. But after giving it more thought, they really are different ideas. With Gary’s quote, it still says that if you want something to happen, you have to be the catalyst of change. I agree with this. But what Gary’s quote implies is that change only starts with you. If you have big enough goals, you’ll never be able to do everything by yourself. You’ll need to build a team around you.
This brings me to the last quote of the day, an African proverb, which states, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” You can move very quickly if you’re working alone because you don’t have to take time to try to influence others why your idea is best for the company. You can pivot at a moment’s notice when you’re working alone, not bogged down with bureaucracy. But you will eventually reach your capacity, whether it’s your time, financial, emotional, physical, mental, etc. We all have limits as individuals, but if you construct a team to “fill the gaps” where you are weak, you can prevail over those limitations! If you have a team of all stars to help overcome your capacities, you can achieve huge goals that you never could have by yourself.
So, instead of trying to be a superhero, doing everything yourself, work to build a team around you to reach the really lofty goals. It will eventually save you time and frustration, and if you enjoy their company, you will have some fun along the way.