Have you ever heard of the children’s book entitled, “The Little Engine That Couldn’t“?  Very few have.  It never sold any copies.  The biggest problem was that there was only one page:

“The Little Engine didn’t think he could.  So, he didn’t.”
The End

Not very inspiring either.

Most of us are familiar with “The Little Engine That Could” by Watty Piper.  The text for this delightful and insightful little story follows:

A little railroad engine was employed about a station yard for such work as it was built for, pulling a few cars on and off the switches. One morning it was waiting for the next call when a long train of freight-cars asked a large engine in the roundhouse to take it over the hill “I can’t; that is too much a pull for me,” said the great engine built for hard work. Then the train asked another engine, and another, only to hear excuses and be refused. At last in desperation the train asked the little switch engine to draw it up the grade and down on the other side. “I think I can,” puffed the little locomotive, and put itself in front of the great heavy train. As it went on the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”

Then as it near the top of the grade, that had so discouraged the larger engines, it went more slowly, but still kept saying, “I–think–I–can, I–think–I–can.” It reached the top by dint of brave effort and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself, “I thought I could, I thought I could.”

To think of hard things and say, “I can’t” is sure to mean “Nothing done.” To refuse to be daunted and insist on saying, “I think I can,” is to make sure of being able to say triumphantly by and by, “I thought I could, I thought I could.”

Virtually every endeavor in this life falls into one of 4 Quadrants:

1. Those things that are EASY and WORTH IT.
2. Those things that are DIFFICULT and WORTH IT.
3. Those things that are EASY and NOT WORTH IT.
4. Those things that are DIFFICULT and NOT WORTH IT.

When it comes to Quadrant 1, the things that are both EASY and WORTH IT, should we do those things?  Of course, they are WORTH IT.  Being EASY doesn’t trivialize them or make them any less significant.  All it means is DON’T WORRY!  Don’t stress over them.  Just DO them.  After all, they are not only WORTH IT, they are also EASY.

We will skip Quadrant 2 for now and come back to it in a moment.  When it comes to Quadrant 3, the things that are EASY and NOT WORTH IT, should we do those things?  Absolutely NOT.  They are NOT WORTH IT.  Not worth the time.  Not worth the effort, no matter how easy they are.  Just because they are easy is not reason enough to do them.  They still take time, one of your most precious commodities.  Don’t waste your time on EASY things that are NOT WORTH IT.

The 4th Quadrant consists of those things that are DIFFICULT and NOT WORTH IT.  Should we do those things?  You would have to be out of your mind.  If you are not going to do things that are EASY and NOT WORTH IT, why on Earth would you bang your head against the wall and waste your time doing things that are NOT WORTH and downright DIFFICULT to boot?  To me this it the biggest no-brainer.  Being DIFFICULT doesn’t automatically make something WORTH doing.  DIFFICULTY and WORTH must be evaluated independently.  Don’t do things that are NOT WORTH IT, even if they are EASY, and certainly not if they are DIFFICULT.

Well, that brings us back to Quadrant 2, those things that are DIFFICULT and WORTH IT.  Should we do those things?  Of course we should, they are WORTH IT, meaning they are WORTH the DIFFICULTY that must be overcome in order to accomplish them.  Ultimately, it is the portion of the equation you focus on that will determine your success.

Will you focus on the DIFFICULTY?  If that is your primary focus then you will be like the “Little Engine that COULDN’T” defeating yourself with your own limiting beliefs before you ever begin.  Or, will you be like “The Little Engine That Could” focusing on the WORTH, the value, the positive, believing you can and continuing in that belief all the way until you are celebrating that you COULD.

I think I CAN… I think I CAN… I think I CAN… I KNEW I COULD… I KNEW I COULD…

I KNEW I COULD!!!

To your SUCCESS!

Kip Kint
Success Coach & President
Mission Ignition

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 6:07 pm and is filed under Coaching, The Core 4: Principles of Success, Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.