Author: Ani.
Editor: David Thomas M. Ed (TESOL), Learning & Curriculum Trainer @EfeX Center
Resourcefulness is an ability to find quick and clever ways to overcome difficulties. There are five steps to being resourceful:
- Think Inside The Box
- Just Do It
- GETMO
- Don’t Despise Small Beginnings
- Resourcefulness Habits
Let’s look at the fourth step of being resourceful: Don’t Despise Small Beginnings.
We’ve talked about thinking inside the box (our constraints) to birth an idea or a solution. We’ve learned to avoid perfectionism and overthinking by evaluating the resources we need to be able to just do it with room for improvement. We’ve created awareness to know when it is GETMO- good enough to move on to the next step so we won’t waste unnecessary resources, knowing that ‘done’ is better than ‘perfect’. After doing all these, now you have in your hand your product, creation, solution, or whatever the fulfillment of your idea is. You have been resourceful.
The problem is, it seems small. Maybe you just created an Instagram for your new online business selling hand-made jewelry. You only have a few followers and a few sales at this moment. You saw your child is starting the first chapter of her “book”. You don’t know if she will even be that interested in finishing her book. Your husband, with your encouragement, uploaded a YouTube video to host how to fix stuff, because he is so gifted in it, dreaming for a chance to be a YouTuber and make money from it. So far all his subscribers are his and your family members and close friends. You begin to wonder, is it worth continuing?
Breathe, and remember this one concept: Do Not Despise Small Beginnings.
Sometimes we forget that big things did start small. We forgot that huge companies like Facebook, Google, Apple, and Walmart originally started within the box. Many self-made millionaires, great inventors, successful athletes, celebrities, authors and CEOs came from a humble beginning. Only a small fraction of them inherited their fortunes. Most had to work hard and appreciated the small beginnings until they got better and improved. They persevered, and stuck to their dream until they took off.
Sometimes we just want to get there fast and forget that it takes these very small steps to get us there.
Starting smaller is just a stepping stone for your big dream. It helps you execute faster so you’ll be more likely to succeed. And when you fail, it is also not so deep so you can recover fast and use the failure as a learning experience. While you’re being faithful in these little things, you are building your muscles and resourcefulness to handle bigger scales as they come.
I’m going to close with a “tasty” true story.
Once upon a time there was a young woman. She moved from a small town to a big city to have a better life. She opened a shoe store and not long after that she met her husband. Her husband loved fishing so he would come home bringing fish. Even though they owned a store, life was hard back then. To feed the family, she needed to be resourceful. With her cooking talents, she cooked the fish of the day and made a special spicy sauce called sambal udang (spicy sauce with fried prawn) to go with it. It turned out her sambal udang was good with everything! She started making varieties of spicy sauces and other food combinations. The husband started inviting his friends to eat together. They complimented her sambal udang so much to the point that they urged her to sell her sambal udang and the other food items.
One day the building where the shoe store was, caught on fire! Selling food was now their only income. She started selling from the back of her car. Her specialty dish was rice and sambal udang. Just by word of mouth she became famous! Happy customers would tell their friends about her and things went from small to bigger and bigger! She never needed to advertise. Now she has many restaurants in many cities and all are succesful. And she stays humble, knowing she came from a humble beginning.
If you’re from Surabaya, you probably have guessed who this person is! Yes, you’re right! She is our very own, beloved Bu Rudy. Kompas newspaper wrote that the 2nd most famous woman in Surabaya after the Mayor Bu Risma is Bu Rudy.
Bu Rudy is resourceful because she works within her limitations and creates something original and good. She executes her plan without the fear of failure that perfectionism brings. She knows when to move on to the next step. And he doesn’t despise her small beginnings. She kept persevering and growing in the process until she became successful.
Let’s learn from Bu Rudy’s example!
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You can check out Bu Rudy’s story from Kompas.com dengan judul "Kisah Sambal Bu Rudy yang Melegenda di Surabaya", https://travel.kompas.com/read/2017/08/10/220400727/kisah-sambal-bu-rudy-yang-melegenda-di-surabaya.
Penulis : Silvita Agmasari
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