On Little Things
The Power You Didn't Believe In
“I want to be a pilot,” Ashish said confidently when our teacher asked.
“I want to be a chef and open my own restaurant,” Ketan said.
“I want to be a writer,” I said — without knowing how that would ever happen.
That was twenty-five years ago.
Ashish didn’t become a pilot. He became a banker.
I didn’t become a writer either. I was working in a government organisation back then.
But Ketan became a chef. And today, he runs his own restaurant in Canada.
***
I remember visiting his house as a child.
He would serve us new dishes, proudly watching our reactions. Back then, I thought he was already walking toward his dream.
Years later, on a WhatsApp call, we were talking about school days.
“How were you so sure you’d become a chef?” I asked.
“You said it so confidently even at ten.”
Ketan laughed.
“I wasn’t sure at all. I didn’t even know what a chef actually does. I had just watched something on TV. When the teacher asked, that was the first thing that came to my mind.”
I paused.
“But you used to cook so well,” I said. “I still remember those dishes.”
He laughed again.
“I didn’t make them,” he said. “My grandmother did. I was just pretending to impress you all.”
“But then what changed?” I asked.
He paused for a moment.
“I slowly started living that identity,” he said.
“I began taking small steps. Learning basic things. Trying simple recipes. Watching cooking shows. Reading about food.”
He smiled.
“And those little steps… slowly made me who I am today.”
***
That thought stayed with me.
I had always wanted to be a writer.
But somewhere along the way, I had started believing that I needed to do something big to become one.
So I started small.
One page a day.
Sometimes 500 words. Sometimes less.
Then I began reading books on writing.
Studying how good writers think.
Learning structure, storytelling, language.
Slowly, one step led to another.
One day, those small efforts helped me write my first non-fiction book — The Goal Getter.
After that, I wanted to try fiction.
So again, I started small.
Reading fiction. Writing short stories. Understanding structure.
Today, I have written multiple books and several short stories.
Not because I took big steps.
But because I kept taking small ones.
***
Big goals don’t need big beginnings.
They just need small steps… taken consistently.
Funny, Quirky Sci-Fi & Fantasy in April
Genres: Romance / Comedy & Humor, Sci-Fi & Fantasy / Fantasy, and Sci-Fi & Fantasy / Science Fiction
Small Books, Big Thoughts
Genres: General Fiction / Literary Fiction, Non-Fiction / Self-Help, and Non-Fiction / Spirituality
