Big Plans, Big Actions

Got big plans? Ready to begin a long, challenging, risky, and commitment-filled dream? John Steinbeck has some advice for you.

In my last post, I discussed Steinbeck's words what our plans say about us from the book Journey of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters. The novel East of Eden was Steinbeck's masterpiece, and he knew it from the start. Wrote Steinbeck, as he began the process of writing this novel, "For this is the book I have always wanted and have worked and prayed to be able to write. We shall see whether I am capable. . . I have written each book as an exercise, as practice for the one to come. And this is the one to come. There is nothing beyond this book - nothing follows it. It must contain all in the world I know and it must have everything in it of which I am capable. . ."

This collection of letters explores his thoughts and feelings on a daily basis as he went through the almost year-long process, with everything on the line. He wasn't merely hoping for this to be great - he was stating that it would be. It was fascinating to be allowed into the mind of a great writer on a daily basis as he wrote his great book. As you work on your masterpiece, whether you're at the beginning of the journey or near the end, Steinbeck's letters provide several lessons for handling your long-term plans.

1. Start! At some point you've simply got to quit planning and get into the game. "I suffer as always from the fear of putting down the first line."

2. Make your masterpiece something you love, and take your time about it. "I know this is going very slowly but I want it that way. I don't want to rush. I am enjoying this work and I truly want it to be the best I have ever done." Whatever you're dreaming, make it something worth spending your days on. The accomplishment at the end will not be enough. You will want to look back upon the labor as the best part of your plan. "I don't care how long it takes me to make it . . . You can't train for something all your life and then have it fall short because you are hurrying to get it finished."

3. Expect to get tired at some point of toiling daily. Plan on it. Have a strategy for when that happens. "And you know of course that many times before I finish this book I shall hate it with a deadly hatred. I shall detest the day when I started it."

4. Obstacles will present themselves. Distractions will come. You will require rest. "I'm getting a fixation about not missing days even though I know I will miss many before this book is done. I just must expect that.  But every day I don't miss is a help and a treasure." Value those days that you do get to work on your masterpiece, because very few people in the world are as lucky as you, actively and purposefully at the tool bench of their life's work.

5. Your feelings and fatigue do not change the value of your masterpiece. "A good morning. It is I who am not good. I am sluggish." Your energy and passion will ebb and flow. The importance of chasing these grand plans will not. Do not allow your weaknesses to win. "My brain just doesn't want to tackle it today and if I let it get away with it, tomorrow it will have another excuse. My brain is very treacherous and I do not dare to give it any freedom to wander."

Keep these ideas in mind as you venture into long-term plans. Your plans say something about who you are. Wisely advancing towards those plans says a lot about how you'll finish those plans. Dream big, then act big as well by looking to the process of one of America's great authors.