“Big things start small’.

Ok so it was an advert for a new business payment system but still it caught my eye and then my attention. Those four short, simple words pack a punch because it’s so true. Big things do start small. Ask any new mum who feels they just blinked and their new born is a toddler – in fact ask any old mum who blinked and is now a grandparent.

Or ask an aunty who is watching decades of nieces and nephews turn into human beings and still feels like a kid herself somedays.

I scribbled these thoughts down in my notebook on my tube ride home weeks ago. While the thoughts were fresh and flowing having just stepped out of a networking event and with business on my mind, this still rings true for anything you’re looking to create in your life.

The business I’m growing is a big dream. BIG DREAM. There’s so much I’m throwing on my canvas and I add even more each day and it fuels me, brings me joy, gives me creative juice – and yet there are still those moments, questions that show up (sneak up?) – can I really do this? Like really? Can I make this dream come true?

And then it hits me.

Big things start small.

Big dreams start small.

Sometimes that may mean you feel like you have no idea what your big dream is or even could be.

Big dreams start small.

And it’s ok to be curious, to start small, to lean in and ‘get to know’ your dream. Or maybe dreams. Maybe all the small ones add up.

Sometimes it means you have the big dream and you’re stuck like a deer in headlights frozen with fear … what if I can’t make this happen?

Big dreams start small.

That’s when it’s ok to slow it down. Chunk it right down. Be proud of the small. The steps you’ve already taken. The steps you’re about to take.

Steve Jobs said it’s easy to connect the dots looking backwards. When was the last time you connected your dots? I wonder if you’d be surprised how far you’ve come towards your big dream already?

Two super simple steps you can do straight away to get started:

Clarity on your big dream: Maybe you know what you want, or have an inkling but you’ve never spent time getting it out of your head. I cannot express how important this is. Your brain likes simplicity, it wants to take the shortest route possible to get you somewhere. So help it.

• Write it out in a journal – Ask yourself what do I want to see, hear, feel?
• For each sense, express them in as much detail as possible. The depths, widths, expressions. Will things be loud or soft, colour or black and white? Be specific.
• Even if you only spend 10mins on this, it will plant the seeds for you brain to take a ‘new route’ of thinking.

Chunking it down: Next, ask yourself what is the easiest thing I can do right now to bring some of this to life?

• Now that I know where I want to be or head towards, what does the next 12 months look like? Then break it down further. What I would need to have done in the next quarter to inch closer to my 12 month image?
• Now, ask what’s the easiest thing I can do right now?

I am a big believer in BIG dreams. I’m a dreamer and I’m a doer. Because you need both for magic to happen. And I totally expect my dreams to keep getting bigger the closer I get to the original version. Like a hot air balloon getting more and more air blown into it over time, it will float higher and higher.

Have a friend whose big dream you believe in? Maybe you see the magic in them and they’re struggling to see their own beauty. This post could be just what they need to come alive again! Share with them below.