This week’s quote is a simple and powerful Chinese saying:
“A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step”.
“A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step”.
This week’s doodle was requested by our friend and Master Doodler Maximo on our Facebook page. He requested the Big Bad Wolf. I don’t like drawing characters developed by other artists, however, since the Big Bad Wolf has been interpreted by many artists in the past, I decided to do my own version: Think Doodle Do style! As before the doodle is broken down into simple shapes using construction lines. This should be an easy enough method for children that want to learn how to draw cartoons.
The Thousand Mile Journey
A journey of 1,000 miles is a long journey indeed! Yes it is!
Imagine a world before planes, cars or trains … in addition to that, imagine you don’t have a horse or even a burro! Not even a burro! The only way to make your journey is by foot. A thousand mile journey not only sounds like a lot of work, but also sounds like it will be difficult and maybe even scary. I mean, there will be challenges along those thousand miles and things that you may encounter that you simply don’t know about … and most people are afraid of what they don’t know.
But the quote says that in order to get there, we simply need to begin by taking a single step. A single step is something that is easy to do and simple to understand. And only through taking a series of single steps, will you be able to reach your destination. Wow! So powerful!
One of the reasons why I love this saying so much is because it tells us exactly what we need to do in order to reach our goals: We need to plan ahead and take action.
To start a journey we need to know where are we going and how to get there: that is planning. Breaking the journey into small steps is also part of planning; but it says that we need to take that first step: that means to take action!
People think the name Think Doodle Do began as a play on words of “Cock-a-Doodle-Do” because it included the word “Doodle” in the middle. That is partially true, but it isn’t the main reason, Think Doodle Do actually includes all 3 aspects required to achieve our goals:
Think: Relates to planning
Doodle: Represents practice, experimenting and learning
Do: The most important of all, since in order to achieve our goals we need to take action.
So many people in the world have dreams and aspirations and only a small percentage of them actually make plans to achieve those dreams. Some of them once they have their plans —which are in essence a thousand mile journey— are too afraid or overwhelmed to move forward. Those who have the courage to take the first step are the only ones who have a chance of actually achieving their goals. Even for those who don’t make their dreams a reality, their futures are still bright because of all the things they would have learned along the journey. Like we discussed on week 2, “even if you miss the moon, you’ll land among the stars” … You have to take action and take your first step if you ever wish to achieve your goals. Dreaming, thinking and planning won’t be enough.
Suggested Tools for Drawing:
Note to Parents:
I hope you take a few moments to watch these videos with your kids. As a volunteer soccer coach for many years, I’ve seen how positive words can generate amazing results. The positive quotes I share are meant to spark a dialog between you and your kids. Take this opportunity to enhance the values I teach with your own personal experiences and point of view. Have fun with the doodles and encourage your kids to practice. Doodling increases creativity, moreover is a skill that they can build up and improve. I started doodling as a kid, and it propelled me into my career as a graphic and web designer, and now … Think Doodle Do. Who knows what our children’s future might bring, but learning a new positive skill is never a bad thing.
Don’t forget to visit our store to see the doodles that I teach on the videos as designs for t-shirts, wall art and more.
