Remember the scene from Braveheart where they create those long spears and lay them hidden in the ground? They are getting charged by the enemy and what is it William Wallace yells to his guys???? Say it with me now. . .

HOLD!
the charge gets closer. . .
HOLD!!!
the charge is almost on them. . .
HOLD!!!!!!
it’s building. . . .the enemy is getting ready to destroy them. . .
HOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!
what the? we’re gonna die. . . we HAVE to do something. . .
NOW!!!!!

The hidden spears get pulled up annihilating the first line of the charge and changing the battle. They had to HOLD until the last second. Pull them too early and the charging enemy could pull up and avoid them. Pull them too late and they would be destroyed.

Pulling them too late though is rarely the problem isn’t it?

Whenever I meet with a new artist, leader, manager, speaker, they often have big ideas. That is good. They should have big ideas. Problem is they often get one small success and then want to jump to their big idea and for the time and place where they are it is often WAY to much for them. They’re pulling the spear too early.

I often think of this scene in Braveheart and encourage them to hold. Keep doing what your doing. Incremental success. Go get another win under your belt. They do that and then come back and they want to go BIG! Remember. . .

HOLD. . .
Go get another win. . .

HOLD. . .
Go kill another presentation. . .

HOLD. . .
Get really good at leading the team you have before staffing up big. . .

Your time will come. Waiting rarely will hurt you. Jumping too early often will be a major setback. Remember, be excellent in the little things and you will be trusted with bigger things.

Your time will come. When it does, because you were patient, because you held, because you handled smaller successes well, you’ll be ready.