What happens when your big idea gets small?

When I got to the track last Saturday for a jog, I had a big idea to go three miles.

Disclaimer: I’m not a runner. While I’ve played soccer for 30+ years of my life, I don’t enjoy hate running, by itself.

But my new running shoes were full of fresh bounce, and it was a nice, quiet morning: blue skies and birdsong. Dew on the grass.

Except . . . I’d gotten a late start and it was already hot—and SO humid. No air movement at all.

And my hip hurt from the spin class I’d done two days before.

And somewhere in there, my plan got smaller.

I ended up doing just two miles instead.

As I walked back to my car, sipping water and marveling at how quickly the air had grown oppressive, I thought about my plan to go three miles. I still wished I had, but it was also true that I’d still done a good thing.

What I did was worth it, even if I’d had to scale back. And for my current fitness level, 3 miles was probably too ambitious anyway.

It’s ok for big ideas to get smaller.

Have you ever had an idea start big, but then when you sat down to write it got smaller, and smaller, the longer you wrote?

(yeah, me neither)

Writing from a big idea to a tiny one can be a confidence-breaker.

It feels like defeat.

And you can’t think that way—not if you plan to keep coming back, and sitting down, and writing toward future you.

Here’s how you beat the defeat—and keep moving.

And this isn’t more “make lemonade” advice. It’s about making . . . chair legs:

“I don’t want people to pity me. I’m interested in what I am becoming.”

Brazilian soccer star Marta, on making the best of things and becoming her own idol.

Watching bonsai clips on YouTube, what stood out was not the bonsai.

You don’t get a big idea every time. Don’t define consistency by the size or quality of your ideas.

If you have to be sure, don’t write.

🧠 and ❤️

Lauren