How do you build?
by Carlin Day
There are all kinds of things to build. You can build a business. You can build a house. You can build a fortune. You can even build muscle. A person will use all kinds of different tools and an assortment of different materials, yet the process of what is happening is the same. Something is being built. Two questions come to mind when I think about something being built. Do you know what materials you are using? Do you know how to build?
What materials are you using?
Believe it or not, a person is always building something. They are using one day after another and stacking all the days up. The finished process is the life that has been built. During those days, they are also building other things (actual individual projects). Everything that you think, listen to, and talk about, is building you! These are the materials that you are using.
How to build?
My kids can build incredible things out of legos and blocks. What’s funny is that sometimes they decide what it is after it has been built. This would never happen when a builder builds a house. The builder looks at the completed house and says “Well, not really what I was going for.” No, the builder has exact plans. There will be small changes, but the finished project will be very close to the original plan. When a person builds a sand castle, there is usually not a plan. One bucket of sand goes here. One bucket of sand goes there. In the end, you may add a flag or a lookout tower. A person then steps back and says, “It looks pretty good”. I always say “I sure am awesome. Kids, this is how you build a sand castle” Even though I can build a great sandcastle, very rarely is it incredible. I also never use plans. When there is a big sandcastle contest, the winner most definitely had a plan. Going back to the question on how to build – the answer is that if you want it to matter, and if you want it to be of value, you use a plan. If it is something that does not matter, you probably do not need a plan. You can just have fun and understand it is just a sandcastle or a block tower. The ocean tide or some playful kids will destroy it.
Take Away
If you are always building, you are always using some kind of planning. Valuable things require planning and things that are of little value require no planning. Start planning and start doing things that matter. Do you want to be a better friend? Start planning ways to do it. Do you want to start a business? Start a real business plan. Here is a question to leave you with.
What is something small you can build, that will create enormous value?