The beginning is the most important part of the work. – Plato
This tower, the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, has a problem with the foundation. Somebody didn’t start at the beginning, but rushed straight into building.
What does that mean?
The wikiquote translation of the quote is “the beginning in every task is the chief thing” which I consider to be close enough to be the same thing.
This quote is accurate in so many ways, it’s hard to know where to start… Ah, yes. At the beginning. Because if you don’t begin, the rest of the work will never get done, right?
Another application of this quote is to actually have a beginning. The idea is to think about it and have a plan, not just jump in head first. Getting started without doing the beginning work isn’t bright.
The quote reminds us that getting started correctly is the most important part of the work, the chief thing to get done. Without it, your project is immediately placed in jeopardy.
Why is the beginning important?
When you are constructing a building, the first thing is digging the foundation. Without a proper foundation, the building is immediately compromised, and everything built on top of a faulty foundation is also in trouble. The foundation, is the most important part of that work.
But you don’t just go out and construct a building, right? Before you put the first shovel in the ground, you have to have a plan. An architect, and as many other specialists as is necessary, determine where holes are to be made, and what materials need to be used, and how the foundation is to be dug and constructed.
But how does an architect know what materials to use? How do they know what will handle the stress or the weight or be able to carry the loads of the building? Experience, yes. But also they do research. They need to know about the materials in the building. They also need to do the research on the soil, and how strong it is.
So that was a lot about making a building. While you might not ever do anything that complex, even something like baking cookies has a beginning. Do you have all the ingredients? Or will you have to run out and get something part way through the process? Do you have a recipe? Lots of things could go wrong if you aren’t ready at the beginning.
Where can I apply this in my life?
Well, besides in construction or cooking, there are a million other things going on in your life. Well, a lot, in any case. Sometimes there just isn’t enough time to do all that stuff at the beginning. Besides, you’ve done it before, and it is pretty easy.
How often in your life have you just jumped in to a project, without first considering the things which should be done at the beginning? In cooking, have you ever gone to grab the proper number of eggs, only to find someone else decided to have scrambled eggs between when you last counted and now?
Have you ever gotten in the car and started going somewhere, certain you have enough gas, but didn’t know that another family member borrowed the car and used a bunch of it, and now you’re stranded on the side of the road? All because you skipped the stuff at the beginning, like checking the fuel level?
At work, do you ever just jump in, without first checking the stuff at the beginning? Do you know exactly why you are doing this, and what the initial complaint was? In some jobs, it isn’t really applicable, as the answer to both is “because they want fries with their burger.” But there are other times when it is important to know.
If you’re mopping the floor, is it because someone spilled grease, because someone made a biological mess, or because of muddy footprints? Each require different additives to properly clean and sanitize, right? If you don’t ask the questions at the beginning, you may have to do it all over again, and that’s no fun. And a waste of time and resources.
The consequences to not properly taking care of the beginning of any project have consequences that range from amusing to dangerous. We’ve all been there, and some of the stories are amusing, while others are embarrassing. They may be the reason we have certain scars, either on the outside or on the inside.
The question is where in your life do you have a tendency to skip the work at the beginning? Think for a moment of all the times a project or plan has blown up in your face. For each, consider if you really started at the beginning. What you might have been able to do differently if you had?
That should provide a little incentive. But the more important question is how to prevent yourself from messing up again in the future. Do you see a pattern in when you skip the beginning? Does it start with “Hold my beer and watch this!”? That might be a clue, right?
Everything we do has a beginning. Buildings with poor foundations are doomed. Buildings without proper plans are similarly doomed. What are you ‘building’ in your life, without a proper plan or foundation? It’s not too late to start at the beginning.
From: Twitter, @aQuoteToday
confirmed at : http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Plato#Book_II 1st entry, also the caption of the first picture at the top of the page
Photo by Paul Stevenson
Related articles
- Foundation first (iamanonymousblog.wordpress.com)
- Leaning Tower of Pisa (wikipedia.org)
- How Plato’s “The Republic” Describes Today’s Society (wakingtimes.com)
- Foundation Repair Houston And Why Does It Become An Important Necessity (baserepairservice.wordpress.com)
- Philosophy Isn’t All about Arguments (explicitblog.wordpress.com)
