What is the secret of success? It will be unwise to pass one single terse tip. But what I feel is paying close attention to small things could unleash the hidden potential. Just like the basketball legend Kobe Bryant once said: “The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.” I believe even a mission which looks next to impossible can be accomplished provided that there is determination and single-minded devotion. But how do we acquire this positive attitude that motivates us to move ahead? By paying attention to the smallest of that building blocks that are either hindering our efforts or could help us achieve our goal.

If we see successful people around us, we find their focus on small things that ultimately have brought the best out of them. And it all starts with “trying”. “Try” is the first and probably the smallest of things before one makes it big in his or her life. I think Bryant is trying to hammer home this very point.

We have been blessed with tremendous amount of potential. Some are genius, while others are bestowed with great communication skills. There is nothing we cannot achieve if we fail to recognise the resources and potential we have been blessed with.

In the Bible, Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”

So, even if it is a “small work” right now that we are doing, if we do it with might and sincerity, this could turn into a remarkable achievement in future. Everything begins small in this world. A seed or sapling or a human embryo — they all start very small. Small does not mean insignificant, small means the beginning. Everything small is packed with huge potential. It just needs to be unleashed. Those who think big also have the same tiny brain like everyone else has. We need to learn to understand the potential of everything small. Trying to acquire positive attitude and understanding our potential are also some small efforts that we need to put to achieve big in our lives.

Even while working on what we call a small work, we need to put all our might and sincerity. That same small work ultimately becomes our stepping stone for our future success.