One of my favorite quotes is from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there.”

This is a paraphrased quote from a conversation between Alice and the Cheshire Cat. You can find this quote everywhere in social media. If you want to cruise around, and the destination truly doesn’t matter, head out. If, however, your goal is to accomplish something, leaving before you know where you’re going will waste time. 

This advice isn’t just for travel. Starting a task without the end in mind is also a bad idea. In elementary school, I was impatient and always wanted to finish first, as if that was the goal. I repeatedly started before the teacher finished giving directions. As you can imagine, I frequently missed important information and had to redo my work.

“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” More sage advice from Carroll’s book. This time the warning is to stop when you’ve completed a task. Another quirk I can claim is continuing to work on something that is done. Yes, there’s always room for improvement, but overthinking an assignment can be as destructive as underthinking one. There comes a time when any change you make will either introduce errors or reduce the effectiveness of a project. 

Alice said, “I don’t think…” “Then you shouldn’t talk,” said the Hatter. No matter the situation, thinking before speaking is a wonderful piece of advice.

The Queen said, “…sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” As a writer of fantasy and science fiction, I must agree that I believe many impossible things. Hopefully, I restrict those beliefs to my books and the worlds of my mind.

Lewis Carroll’s book, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, is a children’s book filled with excellent advice for everyone, regardless of age.