Before I began writing my youth sports parenting book, Home Team Advantage, a close friend - who was herself the author of four bestselling books - gave me a short book called Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by by Anne Lamott.
If you are thinking of tackling a large project, such as starting a new sports club or a league, I recommend reading the book and to thinking like a beaver. Anne writes about her younger brother who, while still in grade school, decided to draw over one hundred local birds for a school project. As the due date of the report grew closer he began to panic. Only when he was taught to break up the huge task into many daily smaller tasks was he able to finish the project on time.
Another way to tackle a large task is to work like a beaver. Beavers literally map out which trees they want to "fell" so they can strip them of their smaller branches for their lodges. Little by little they whittle away each day until the job is complete.
During my daily kayak ride yesterday I returned to a spot where I noticed a beaver had been working three weeks earlier. Sure enough, he had made a lot of progress over that time. No doubt he was facing a larger task than usual - a double-trunk tree - which I believe is unusual.
One thing is almost certain: I bet when I paddle by the next time, the beaver will have finished his job!
