More than two decades ago, Mike Carmichael, a house painter living in Alexandria, Indiana took a standard, Major League baseball and covered it with a single coat of paint. Every day for the next 25 years, Carmichael applied additional coats of paint to the ball recording the date and color of each application in a notebook.
Each coat of paint added a slight increase to the size and weight of the ball. A single coat of paint is about the width of a human hair so the growth was nearly imperceptible. And yet, today after more than 20,000 coats of paint, Michael’s baseball measures more than 52 inches across and weighs an astounding 3,500 pounds!
When you set a goal, your progress may seem slow, almost imperceptible. It may be difficult to see that you are closing in on your intention. It may feel like you are putting forth effort and not seeing results. But each step you take is like a coat of paint. It may seem small but it is a necessary foundation for the next step.
To maintain your enthusiasm and focus, take a lesson from Michael Carmichael. Track your progress. Begin now to keep an Evidence Journal.
Once you have set a clear intention to accomplish something, get a journal, notebook, or you can even create a file on your computer or Smartphone and daily make note of any and all evidence that shows any progress toward your goal.
You will discover that this daily exercise takes only a couple of minutes but it will have a powerful impact. Not only does writing in your Evidence Journal keep your focus on your goal but it ramps up your enthusiasm to keep moving forward. Further, and most important, it keeps you accountable to yourself for taking those little steps that soon create the result you desire.
It’s easy to focus on the distance you have yet to travel toward an objective and become frustrated and demoralized. Instead, review the progress you have already made and, with renewed confidence and passion, move forward.
Right now, think of a major goal you wish to achieve or an intention you have set for yourself. Take a moment to note what you have done or what has come your way in support of this becoming a reality. The more you look for evidence that you are succeeding the more evidence you will find.
Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes fame, the great philosopher of the Sunday comics, once quipped, “Day after day nothing seems to happen and yet pretty soon everything is different.”
Keeping an Evidence Journal takes only a moment each day but it keeps you on track and keeps your spirits up especially when things get tough. When you feel stymied, review what has already transpired that is moving you toward your ideal and it will keep you going and renew your faith.
There are coats of paint being applied and gallons of paint showing up. Look for them, track them and succeed.
Read Mike’s story at http://ballofpaint.freehosting.net .