Wes Berry [Berry - Big Things Have Small Beginnings

Copyright 2018 by Green Dragon Services LLC

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This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

ISBN: 978-0-692-18184-3 (paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-5323-8947-4 (ebook)

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WesleyBerry.co

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Published in the United States of America

by Green Dragon Services

This book is dedicated to my wife Mi and our four sons: Aaron, Brandon, Bradley, and Wes. Okay, so I am not the easiest person to live with, and they have endured an awful lot over the years. To my sons Id like to publicly apologize for that incident with the elephant. And to my wife I apologize for the times we went sailing.

Also, to you the reader I dedicate this book in the hope that you will take some bits of knowledge from these pages, even if only in the validation of what you may already know. Get in the great game and youll enjoy the ride of your lifehonestly, its an amazing game, that will make your life worthwhile.

And finally, to Commander Duncan, USNR, who excited my interest in strategic thinking.

I chose the title Big Things Have Small Beginnings for this book because I know that Im living proof of that very truth.

But Ive found that I was never alone in that. In fact, just about every successful person Ive metand Ive been privileged to have met quite a fewand every successful leader Ive studied, has in some way or another borne out the same truth. That is, successful people seem to spend a lot more time and energy on small things that unsuccessful people so often seem to neglect.

Did you ever hear the story about the blacksmith who brought down a kingdom? Seems he was being a little careless one day, and so he missed one of the nails in a single horseshoe. Just a little thing, right?

Well, as the story goes, it seems that horseshoe soon worked itself loose on a single hard ride, and the poor horse stumbled and fell. He threw his rider, who was injured badly enough that he wasnt able to complete his journey. Unfortunately, that meant that the message the rider was carrying never got through to the general for whom it was intended. Had the general received the message in time, he would have waited just that one more day to attack, that is, until the large band of reinforcements could arrive. He didnt know. So he did attack, as well as he was able. He felt he had no choice And, sad to say, he was resoundingly defeated. But worse, he was the last and best defense of the king. And so the king, and of course the kingdom, was lost.

Man, if only that blacksmith had paid a little more attention to that seemingly minor detail.

And thats pretty much what this book is about.

Im here to tell you that, when you take care of the little stuff, the big stuff has a real nice way of taking care of itself. And what I hope to accomplish in these few pages is to help you take better care of all that little stuff.

Ive enjoyed a wonderful measure of success, both in my business and in my life, and I sincerely want the same for you. But it certainly wasnt always an easy road to travel. My hope is that, if you too are starting out on that road, or maybe are already well along the way and perhaps have hit a couple of ruts, then what Im about to tell you might be of assistance to you on your own journeyin your businessand in your life.

Life is so doggone short. And its so doggone precious when were able to live it at a high level, a life of success, a life thats full of the deep joy that comes with working toward and accomplishing very worthwhile goals that make our lives, and the lives of those all around us, just a little bit better for our being here. It doesnt get any better than that. As far as I can see, if you learn to play in the great game of business, you will also be learning how to play in the great game of life.

I cant thank you enough for picking up this book. Youre the kind of person who makes this country, and this world, a much better place for the ambition you have already shown. Im pullin for you. I really am. How I wish we had many more like you.

Soooo, how about we get started?

The person who starts out simply with the idea of getting rich won't succeed; you must have a larger ambition. There is no mystery in business success. If you do each day's task successfully, and stay faithfully within these natural operations of commercial laws which I talk so much about, and keep your head clear, you will come out all right.

John D. Rockefeller

Lets begin our discussion with Ambition. Nothing in business will get accomplished without it. You simply cant play in the great game without ambition.

Ambition is an absolute essential. But make no mistake, for better or worse, genuine ambition involves struggle. We set out to achieve something that we believe is really worthwhile. And it is the achievement of that worthwhile goal that brings us a genuine sense of our own worth. We make a difference. We earn our dignity. But let me add that the very struggle itself, even in the absence of the success we set out to achieve, brings much of the same benefit to us. It makes us people with a purpose.

Ambition also puts considerable demands on us. It requires a whole lot more of us than just our lofty ambitions, our dreams in life. It requires a toughness of mind and spirit that only really grows in us once we enter the ring, once we begin to play in the great game. And success is guaranteed to no one.

But if youre not willing to lose, you shouldnt be playing the game.

What is ambition?

For most people the term is a little ambiguous, isnt it? Youre sitting at your desk shootin the breeze over morning coffee with a co-worker, and your department head walks by.

Shes ambitious, you say.

Is it a compliment? Or is it a castigation? The answer to that question depends largely on whether or not you consider yourself to be ambitious, and for what reasonthat is, to what end. And be assured that this discussion is not a new one.

Seventeenth-century philosopher, statesman, and jurist Sir Francis Bacon pondered this same point in his essay On Ambition (1612). In his now-archaic English, he writes:

So ambitious men, if they find the way open for their rising, and still get forward, they are rather busy than dangerous; but if they be checked in their desires, they become secretly discontent, and look upon men and matters with an evil eye, and are best pleased, when things go backward; which is the worst property in a servant of a prince, or state.

Well isnt that clear as a bell? But, in fact, it sure does ring true!