Start Tiny, Grow Big
If you're afraid to start, start tiny. In 2015, I spent $40 at a farmers' market on my first potted plant, an orchid. At the time, $40 felt like a huge investment for a recent grad, but the return on that investment is still felt today. That orchid stayed with me for years. It was with me when I started my first job in Virginia and when I quit that job four years later. When times were bleak, my orchid would surprise me and bloom. It still blooms years later, in a corner of my parents' house.
My first Orchid: April 15, 2019
The second investment I made was five years later in 2020 when I bought my first tree. At the time, I still lived in an apartment. I hauled my tree up the stairs and onto the deck of my apartment in its small pot. Even though my tree wasn't in the ground, it still produced fruit. The branches got longer, the flowers bloomed, and eventually (4 years later), lemons grew.
My first lemons - February 24, 2024
Starting small can sometimes feel insignificant. The smallest of changes can feel pointless. But small changes over time can produce unimaginable results. When I was in college, I wanted to work for a specific agency. Every year, I would put in an application to this agency, and every year, I was denied. I can remember back to the time when I quit my first full-time job out of college. My tiny change was that every day, I would work on my resume. Every day, I got up and wrote my resume, then rewrote my resume, then wrote more on my resume. One morning, I woke up, went to a Panera Bread near my apartment, sat down, and reformatted my resume, writing everything I had accomplished in the last four years. That day, I submitted another application to the company I wanted to work for. Seven years after submitting my first application to this company, I finally got my first interview. That interview led me to my next job, and the next leap from Virginia to California.
Start tiny, stay steadfast, but continue to grow in the process. Small changes where you are may grow you beyond your little corner of the world.
