Video: Build your bridge

Every bridge breaks down to one piece of wood. If you know WHERE you want that bridge to go, you can build that bridge anywhere as long as you build it once piece at a time. 

A few years ago we renovated our house. We bought an old, old house (as in "1903" old- it had already seen more than 100 years when we purchased it). By the time we got it, it had been through two world wars, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights movement, and several renditions that invovled carving up a once-big house into tiny apartments. 

It needed a lot of work.

I wasn't really a carpenter. I'm still not. Up to that point, though, I'd only used a screw gun (read: cordless drill) a few times. I could swing a hammer. And I knew how to do basic repairs on a bicycle (I know- this has nothing to do with carpentry or houses at all, other than the fact that you usually store your bike at your house... just pointing out that I had some tool experience). I'd never used anything with a compressor- like a nail gun. 

So, I did what any other guy (I think) would do...

I went The Home Depot on day and bought a bunch of tools. Then, I rode to the bookstore and grabbed some books about home remodeling. Somewhere in the coffee shop I figured this: every bit of trim, every cabinet, and every floor breaks down to one piece of wood getting attached to the structure by one nail at a time.

Pretty much :-)

The next day an over-sized rig dropped a 20-yard dumpster at the house, I built a wooden slide from the window down to the street, and began tearing down walls and sledding them into the metal trash bin. I was on my way to remodeling greatness. 

One piece of wood at a time. One nail at a time. And it worked. We still live in the house to this day- it's still standing.

Now, get this: that same theory about once piece of wood at a time and one nail at a time... It works for houses- and bridges alike.

And it works for bridges to your dreams and goals, too. If you define where you want to be- which is a huge one, I know- for all the talk about being held back, being kept down, and not having the same opportunities as other people... very few people, when pushed to define it, could say WHERE it is they want to go or WHAT it is they want to become. 

(This goes back to the previous post, too, that you've got to start where you are, which means you've got to "own it." No shame, right? You just have to admit the starting location, because that's the only way to really move forward!)

In the video above, shot from Advance (a weekend men's event, we talk about dreams, goals, and building bridges to them...

And we break it down to the minutia of the smallest steps...

One piece of wood at a time, one nail at a time...

Dream of a better relationship with your kids? It could be as simple as tucking them in each night for bed. That's right- one little thing.

Dream of a  better marriage? It might be as simple as making the bed, turning off the TV, or just listening... 

Dream of better health...? Maybe it's just cutting that one snack...

I know. We often look at the entire bridge. Or the entire house. Or the entire distance we've got to go to achieve our dreams. Here's the deal: you can go anywhere you want to go if you break it down...

... the one.

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