Marohn: "We earn the right to do big things by doing the little things well."

Languishing unrepaired since at least February.

Yeah, I know. Strong Towns again.

Required reading for the Reisz Five ... again.

Do any of them read?

Or do they just take orders?

LET'S DO THIS FIRST, by Charles Marohn (Strong Towns)

There’s been a significant shift here in my hometown of Brainerd, Minnesota. People and organizations who have long promoted some of the more destructive development practices in our region are now turning their focus downtown. Their rhetoric is great. Their vision is fantastic. I’m excited about the momentum. The stars are aligning.

The main initiative is called River to Rail, a push to connect the Mississippi River to Strong Towns headquarters (and many other cool things) at the Northern Pacific Center. In between these two locations sits our core downtown, a place needing — and starting to receive — a little bit of love. It’s a great concept.

I want to see us do big things, and I think we can—if we pay attention to the little things first.

snip

I am sure that there will be people who read this and say, “Love your ideas, Chuck. Let’s do both.”

I’m with you. Let’s do both, but let’s first do the things we can do now.

It’s doing the little things first that gives you the credibility to do the big things later. It’s taking small steps now that demonstrates competence to take larger steps in the future. It’s doing the obvious thing sitting right in front of your face that gives you the clarity of vision to fully comprehend that more distant challenge.

We earn the right to do big things by doing the little things well.