A Young Student and his Great Wall

A young student once approached his master in the morning of the New Year, gleaming with excitement as he could not wait to share to his wise old master his vision for the upcoming year. The young student approached his master and said,

“Master, I have set my goals for this year!”

The master, always patient in his response, asked the young student

“Oh yes? What is the one thing you are committed to this year”?

The young student with a puzzled look, quickly responded,

“Master, I have many things I want to do, I will..”, and from there, the young student listed many goals, ranging from the marks he would receive in his studies to how often he wishes to clean his home.

The master shook his head,

“My young one, which of these goals are you interested in, and which of them are you committed to?” The young student was confused and slightly hurt, but replied,

“But master, I wish to achieve all these things”.

The master looked at the young boy and smiled,

“Of course you do, but you cannot build a great wall overnight, in order to build great things, you must focus on laying one brick as perfectly as one can be laid. And then you will have a great wall.”

The master continued,

“My young one, there is a difference between commitment and interest, when you are interested in doing something; you do it only when it is convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results.”

The master finished,

“Focus your mind on improving one habit at a time”.

The young student nodded with understanding, and then asked the master

“What do you mean habit?”.

The masters smiles as if he was proud to see the student began to understand,

“Remember, you do not set out to build a wall, you must focus on laying one brick as best you can lay it. The daily habits we form, guide us every day; that is our one brick. So as set out to achieve great things, we must focus on what we do daily, until one day, we look up, and we have a great wall”.

The young student looked at the master, feeling ashamed as one does after learning a great lesson, and replied,

“So I am committed to getting all of the highest marks on my studies, I will do this by studying for three hours every morning and one hour every night. I will approach my other goals in later months after I have developed the habits to achieve what I am committed to”.

The master then asked,

“What if you miss a day?”,

The student replied,

“I won’t, but if I do, I will start over and will not be discouraged”.

The master nodded and smiled

 

I hope this short story helps you understand the importance of focusing your attention on committed goals and building a daily plan to help you achieve them.  If you have feedback on this blog post, I’d love to hear from you. I’m trying out a new writing style and practicing fiction messages as I am working diligently on my new book J

Have a wonderful 2014!